


Swiping a Beer

by mistyzj



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Explicit Language, Gen, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-17
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-07-15 14:19:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7225882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mistyzj/pseuds/mistyzj
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes you just need a beer.  But when you're a time-traveling, not-so-villainous villain...it's not as easy as all that.</p><p> </p><p>[Leonard inadvertently broke his timeline and now he and Mick have to scramble to fix things or they will never be anything other than a thief and an arsonist.  The only help they have available is from people who hate and fear them.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beer in a Fridge

Leonard Snart sat in the cargo hold of the Waverider and glared at a storage crate. He was trying to decide which bothered him more – Mick siding with pirates (the big, dumb ass) or the rest of the team assuming without hesitation that he killed his only friend (big **group** of dumb asses).  
  
In Mick’s defense, he did get dragged away from his happy place. Star City of the future was safe from all the burning and looting if Mick stayed, but his real reason for dragging the man away was not to save anyone other than his friend. The thought of that timeline winking out of existence along with Mick was too much to contemplate. Plus he wanted his friend to experience what he felt now. Not the anger and frustration, although that would probably come too, but the potential for other things.  
  
For friends.  
  
Even though that was the source of his current foul mood. Caring what other people thought of him was a very new and very irksome experience.  
How could they not tell he was no longer that guy?  
  
His foot shot out to kick the nearest crate, it made a loud noise that was not very satisfying. He scrubbed a hand across his face a few times. Now he was just being childish. He rolled his eyes at the thought and stood, fighting the urge to pace. Truth be told, he had been moving away from being that guy for a long time now. Ever since he met…  
  
Barry  
  
(That skinny ass) he added because he was still feeling a little childish.  
  
Leonard finally gave in to the need to pace. To move. To burn off some of the unfamiliar things he felt (and his need to burn was as foreign as his current need for acceptance). Instead of abating, the mass of frustration grew.  
  
The worst of it was the where and when the Waverider landed for this particular mission. It was Central City. It was **that**  night. The night Rip met with them on **that** rooftop and invited them to save the world and be heroes. The night he subconsciously made the vow to change (only realizing just now that even as he thought he was running away from it, he started running towards it that night). The night that landed him in his current emotional quagmire.  
  
The thief gave the crate another swift kick. It was still unsatisfying, but it helped to solidify his plans. He needed to get out, to walk, to breathe in his city. He needed to get off the ship and clear his head. Anywhere would do, so he began his mental checklist like this was any other job.

1\. No shooting.  
  
The holster for the cold gun already hung loosely in his hand as he mentally ticked off this rule and laid the gun on the crate he just abused.  
  
2\. Stay away from the docks.  
  
He glanced at his watch. In about an hour he and Mick would be at that crappy bar with the stupid name, finalizing things before the heist later tonight.  
  
3\. Stay away from downtown.  
  
That was where the heist and the rooftop were located. No chance to bump into earlier versions of the team or himself if he stayed away completely.  
  
4\. No stealing.  
  
Easiest rule to follow.  
  
Short list. Just a walk. Ignoring (as always) Rip’s dire warning to “stay on the ship if you are not on the mission” he left the Waverider.  
  
  


***********  
  


Iris West stared at the ceiling of her room. It was still early in the evening, but it was dark tonight, even for January. The house was almost too quiet without her dad or Barry there, but that was why she was lying on the bed in her old room. Sometimes her life got too crazy, too sad and she thought too much about Eddie. Like tonight. The only thing that helped was surrounding herself with childhood memories, but she only gave in to this when dad and Barry would not find out.  
  
She listened to a single car drive up the street. Normally she enjoyed the quiet at her old home and found it soothing, but tonight was different.  
Why was tonight different?  
  
Iris returned to staring at the ceiling and tried to let go of the frustration and sadness. Maybe research something? Would that help? There was no current story. Not even ideas. Not a concept. Nothing she was excited over. Nothing. She huffed out a breath and turned to her side. Maybe reading some of her old stories would spark some undiscovered idea. Maybe if she…  
  
Was that a noise? She sat up quickly.  
  
Well, not exactly a noise, just the feeling that someone was in the house. She strained to hear something, but the house remained silent. No noise, but the feeling that she was not alone increased the more she concentrated on listening for a sound that did not belong. Now she was just making herself crazy. If there was someone in the house, she should be able to hear something and this was too nice a neighborhood for that to be much of a concern.  
  
And still the feeling persisted.  
  
Iris tucked her cell phone into the pocket of her sweat pants, stuffed her feet into slippers and made her way to the door of her room. She opened the door and listened. Nothing. Made her way down the stairs as quietly as possible, still concentrating on the house and errant sounds. Nothing. At the bottom of the stairs she remembered the bat her dad kept there and picked it up. Still nothing. By now there should be noises if there really was someone in the house, she relaxed a little as she moved towards the kitchen.  
  
Making. Herself. Crazy.  
  
Iris was about to let out a little laugh of relief when she heard the distinct sound of the seal on the refrigerator releasing as a dim light filtered through the archway from the kitchen. Her blood froze. Still absolute silence from the intruder, but there was definitely somebody in the fridge. And now she was too close to the kitchen to use the phone and too far from the front door to get away, so she tightened her grip on the bat. The light winked out as she moved past the wall to see into the kitchen.  
  
It was dark, but not completely pitch black. The man’s back was to her and she could see he was tall, but not bulky. There was a new noise of two bottles opening and the man flung the caps carelessly across the kitchen where one bounced around on the counter and the other clattered to the floor. He turned, but it was too dark to make out his face.  
  
The man spoke and there was no need to see him.  
  
“Hope you wanted one,” Leonard Snart drawled as he placed one bottle in front of her on the counter and the bat slipped from her numb hands.  
  
Panic immediately coursed through her. Her heart raced and she knew she had to run and get away. Her body refused to react and she stood there. No Barry. No dad. What was she going to do? She waited for him to grab her, to haul her out of the house. Was this a kidnapping? Something worse? Her mind raced through scenarios, each worse than the last, all fueled by the stories she knew from Barry and the others. This was bad, very bad. And still…nothing happened.  
  
Absolutely nothing.  
  
Iris blinked a few times and realized the bat was back in her hands. She faintly recalled him handing it back to her. Her heartrate settled to a more normal pace and she turned around to see him sitting on the couch, casually drinking the beer from her fridge. The outline of two bottles on the coffee table next to his feet caught her attention and she almost blurted out how her dad hated feet up there. She turned back to the counter to pick up the beer left there for her and downed half of it in a few gulps.  
  
Iris was still a little scared, but now she knew there was a story here. A really good story. As usual, the potential to unearth something spectacular overcame her sense of self-preservation. She leaned the bat against the wall and crossed around to the front of the couch and tentatively sat on the far side away from him. She took another drink from the bottle, while considering how to begin a conversation with a man she never thought to talk with. The more she thought about why he was here, not committing a crime…well, not much of one…the more the fear faded to the background and the excitement of all of the possibilities took hold.  
  
“So, couldn’t find beer anywhere else in Central City?” She finally asked, her eyes searching his face to read his reaction, but she barely saw him in the dark.  
  
There was a long pause before he finally answered without turning towards her, “Not tonight I can’t.”  
  
“Cryptic.”  
  
Snart inclined his head indifferently, still not looking her way. She switched on the lamp next to her on the side table to see his face better. She expected him to complain, but he remained impassive.  
  
“What brings you here…” she took a deep breath as she decided to try out the next word, “…Leonard?”  
  
The man turned to face her on hearing his name and she met his gaze. He was wincing, a reaction to her calling him by his first name, but he also did not correct her. Snart just sighed and looked away again. Then he tilted his head back, swallowed the rest of his beer and rose. At first she thought he was leaving, but he placed the empty bottle next to the other two on the coffee table, pointed at her beer and she nodded. Not that she wanted another so soon, but it seemed to be her only recourse in this strange encounter. He made his way to the kitchen and she marveled at how quiet he was. He made no sound until the fridge opened and two more bottles hissed open behind her in the other room. Then came the familiar clattering of bottlecaps bouncing around the kitchen.  
  
“Can’t you use the trash?” She called out before thinking, uncomfortable at how casual it felt.  
  
“No,” he answered flatly, suddenly appearing next to her and she started at his nearness. Freakishly quiet. He placed a beer on the side table for her and continued to the far side of the couch to sit back down.  
  
This was most definitely not his intention when he left the Waverider. A walk, sure, but finding himself in front of Barry’s house? Not in the plan. Breaking into Barry’s house? Worse. And yet he was already here and he clearly needed to talk and she clearly wanted to listen.  
  
“You seem different,” she said earnestly while studying his face.  
  
“You can tell, how come they can’t tell?” he grumbled quietly.  
  
“They?” she prompted.  
  
Leaving a thread for this woman to pull might unravel him, but this was new territory and maybe it was what he needed. “I have a new crew…of sorts.”  
  
“Planning something illegal?” She asked disapprovingly.  
  
“It’s not like that. I have to figure out how to be…a friend.” And more. He added silently when his thoughts conjured up Sara. He was definitely not ready to tackle those emotions, so he pictured the safer subjects of Stein and the kid…even Raymond.  
  
Iris remained silent as she realized his internal struggle was genuine. “I’ve always had Barry,” she finally commented. After a brief pause she launched into one of the embarrassing stories from their childhood. Leonard sat there quietly, his lips occasionally twitching as she got lost in the memory. When she finished, he turned to her with an actual smile on his face. Then she added, “He’s so going to hate that I told you that,” and he laughed out loud, surprising both of them.  
  
Leonard relaxed and unwound into the couch after that. Taking another swallow from the bottle, he began. “You’ve seen some strange things being friends with…the Flash…right?” She simply nodded, letting him continue, “Tonight I’m going to be asked to help save the world.”  
  
“You?” she gave him a pointed look of disbelief, then his choice of words caught up to her, “Wait…going to? As in, hasn’t happened yet?”  
  
“Not for,” he glanced at his watch, “several hours yet. In fact, if you head down to the,” he searched his memory for the name of that horrible place, “Masked Marlin right now you’ll see Mick and I sitting there talking over a job we’re pulling later tonight.” He paused and then added quickly, “Nothing gets stolen…well, not permanently anyway…and no one gets hurt.”  
  
“Oh,” she was genuinely surprised when she realized that part was important to him. “You really are different,” and that was not the only thing changed about him. While she was not exactly comfortable with him, she also was not scared. Not like at Christmastime when he broke into the house and she remembered being frightened even with Barry standing next to her. Then it finally hit her – there was no Captain Cold jacket, no goggles and, most surprisingly of all, no cold gun. He was dressed casually and slouched over with his feet up on the coffee table, just like Barry did when dad was not home. He was just…Leonard. She blinked at the realization.  
  
“So I say I’m from the future and you’re fine with that, but you say I’ve changed and that’s what bothers you?”  
  
“You could always shoot me and prove me wrong,” Iris retorted, suddenly annoyed. Just as suddenly, her face drained of color as she realized what she said and who she said it to. Snart sat there motionless, wincing as before, like what she said hurt and annoyed him, but he did not deny her observation either.  
  
“So I’m on a ship that travels through time. How do you know about time travel?” he finally asked.  
  
“Well…” she began to answer.  
  
“Let me guess.” They made eye contact and silently dropped the explanation there.  
  
“So, when? How far into the future?”  
  
“Only a few months.” He paused and added, “A lifetime…” The silence stretched out and he stood abruptly. “I shouldn’t be here.”  
  
“Leonard?” She softened her voice, recognizing that something in his demeanor changed. In someone else she would say he looked restless, but she suspected for him it was something closer to panic.  
  
“I shouldn’t be here,” he repeated more urgently.  
  
Iris rose slowly with outstretched arms, gesturing slowly to calm him. “It’s okay.” He shook his head and made his way to the door. They were both surprised once again when she moved in front of him to block his exit.  
  
“You can’t… You of all people… You can’t…” She began several times before her thoughts finally gained traction. “You can’t drop this beginning on someone like me and not finish it.” She was pleading with him. “I have to know more.”  
  
“I shouldn’t have…” his voice trailed off and he looked so lost. So unlike what she knew of him.  
  
Iris folded her arms and used the serious voice that always worked on Barry, “You have to tell me.”  
  
All the emotions she never thought to see on his face evaporated, replaced by a familiar smirk and hard eyes. The change appeared so swiftly she took a step backward and gasped when her back hit the front door. “I have to tell you?” he asked as he continued to close the space between them.  
  
Iris could not find her voice and admitted he was still a bit scary.  
  
His eyes flicked down to the floor and he inhaled deeply, when their eyes met he stepped back, no longer crowding her. “I’ll make you a deal, West. I’ll come back in a few weeks and tell you more and you don’t mention this to anyone.” Now he looked neither lost nor scary, just tired.  
  
“All…alright…” she stammered.  
  
When she did not move away from the door after a few moments, he placed a hand on her upper arm and gently pushed her to the side. He left without a word, pulling the door closed softly behind him.  
  


**********  
  


Ten minutes later, Iris still leaned against the front door trying to process the events of the evening. If anyone else in the city came to her with this story, she would not doubt it was a lie. Or a stunt. Or insanity. But Leonard Snart? Traipsing through time? Saving the world? Not anyone’s first choice, but maybe that was why she believed it.  
  
She chewed her bottom lip as more thoughts swirled in her head. He was so different, it had to be true. Finally, threads of a story began to sort and arrange themselves. The excitement of a new writing project overwhelmed her and she smiled as she chewed on her lip some more. Where to start? Where to start? Where to start? She pushed off the door and ran up the stairs to access her laptop, but paused when she realized she had no idea where to begin. Not like time travel was common. Not like anyone other than herself and a handful of people even knew it was real.  
  
How was she going to wait weeks for him to return?  
  
Rewinding the conversation in her head, she landed on the answer – Masked Marlin. He said he was there now. She could observe him from a distance and maybe follow him. Maybe see this meeting. Maybe start to get some answers so she knew the right questions for his next visit. She rapidly did a search for the location and found it situated in pretty much the worst area of Central City. But she so wanted a peek, if only to obtain proof that the Leonard Snart that visited her tonight was indeed different from the Leonard Snart sitting in a dive bar at the docks.  
  
Just a peek…that couldn’t hurt…


	2. Hangover (Consequences)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought this was going to be one long chapter, but then this seemed like a transitional bit...and I got impatient. Enjoy!  
> **********

Sara Lance scrutinized the playing cards in her hands and held them so close to her face that nothing else appeared in her field of vision, not even her opponent, Leonard Snart. Out of curiosity, she glanced over the top of the cards and back down just as quickly.  
  
He was still doing it.  
  
If anyone on the Waverider passed, they would see the two of them seated against opposite walls in a hallway with their legs stretched out, side-by-side, almost touching. They were like this frequently in one hallway or another and half the fun was the crew tripping over them. Well, she always warned Kendra and Leonard always warned Martin, but the rest were fair game.  
  
Quick glance.  
  
He was still doing it.  
  
“C’mon, Lance,” he goaded her as one of his feet knocked into her legs, “You’re stalling.”  
  
“Shut up, Leonerrd.” She loved saying his name like that, drawling out the “r”, because it annoyed him as much as it amused him. Most things she did got that reaction from him. Best of all, he stopped doing that other thing. The thing that distracted her so much that she had no idea what game they were playing. Too many cards for poker…even as she tried to remember she heard herself say, “Do you have any threes?”  
  
If ever there was a time for a facepalm, now was it. Sara waited for the inevitable teasing. Go fish? Really? What was she thinking? Now he would know how distracted she was about…him.  
  
“No,” his expression softened and he was doing it again, “go fish.”  
  
“Oh,” she accidently said out loud. Then she kicked his legs and added, “Ass.”  
  
“What?” He frowned, obviously confused and annoyed at her. Which was good because it meant he stopped the other thing.  
  
That expression on his face that started appearing only recently, after they saved Mick from being Chronos. The one that said, “I am content for the first time in my life and working on being happy.” The one that, when they were alone, said, “This is because of you.” Whatever the Time Masters did to burn the crazy out of Mick had the added effect of thawing Leonard’s emotions. Sometimes she caught some sadness in that look and suspected it was because he knew she did not feel the same way.  
  
But that was just it – the thing she hated most about that look was how much she didn’t hate it. Not in the slightest. As much as Leonard embraced the new him, she was stuck in the old Sara – afraid of her emotions. Afraid of letting anyone in. Maybe someday she could say something, but not today.  
  
“Now who’s stalling?” she asked as she looked up from her cards. She expecting a biting retort with a smirk, but instead saw Leonard staring sightlessly through her, motionless. “Leonard?” Then she noticed he was not breathing and she scrabbled across the hallway to kneel at his side. “Lenny?” She reached out to grab his shoulder and gave it a gentle shake. “So help me, if this is a joke…” she warned when abruptly he sucked in a long ragged breath, like someone underwater for too long.  
  
“What the…” he gasped, still struggling to breathe.  
  
“…hell was that?” She finished for him.  
  
Sara still had her hand on his shoulder when she felt the second seizure begin. All of the muscles in his body tightened and he ceased breathing. Looking in his eyes made it worse - the pupils were barely visible and they did not focus, like he was not even in there. The slowest seconds ticked by. Not sure what to do, she placed her hands on his shoulders and was about to shake him vigorously, when he drew in a long, ragged breath as before.  
  
“Thank god,” she leaned her forehead against his for a moment. She got her feet under her and added, “I’m taking you to the Medbay.”  
  
It took a lot of effort to get him to his feet, she was strong, but very short and he was tall. With one arm braced around his middle and the other on his wrist to anchor his arm across her back, they stumbled down the corridor. “C’mon, Snart,” she knew him well enough to know encouragement and kind words were not a good motivator, “Gideon needs to examine your sorry ass.”  
  
That caused him to snort in amusement, but nothing else. That worried her – he always had sarcasm at the ready. They were almost to the Medbay when Leonard finally spoke, “Thank you, Sara.” It was quiet and sincere, something she never heard from him before.  
  
“S’ok, Lenny.”  
  
They entered the Medbay, but it was already occupied. Ray Palmer and Mick Rory were already in the middle of the room heading for one of the beds, with Ray helping Mick, much the same way she was helping Leonard. Then she felt the tension in his muscles return even as Mick roared in pain and pitched forward, causing Ray to spin and stumble a few steps. Mick fell to the ground flailing and crying out in pain. Leonard stood motionless. It was as if each of the men had been shot with their guns – Mick writhing in invisible flames and Leonard frozen, unable to move or breathe.  
  
Sara shared a helpless look with Ray.  
  
“Gideon,” Ray spoke a little too loudly, his anxiety overwhelming him, “what’s wrong with them?”  
  
Before Gideon answered, she felt the tension drain from Leonard’s body and she stumbled when suddenly she supported all of his weight. Ray hurried to her side and the two of them helped the thief to the medical bed. When she turned, Mick was no longer flailing, but he remained on the floor, breathing heavily, and staring at the ceiling.  
  
“There is nothing physically wrong with Mr. Snart or Mr. Rory.” Gideon announced pleasantly.  
  
“That can’t be right,” Sara replied.  
  
“I can run the scan again, if you like.”  
  
“How can that be right?” Ray echoed Sara, his concern for the two men etched on his face.  
  
“There is nothing physically wrong with Mr. Snart or Mr. Rory,” Gideon repeated.  
  
Sara practically growled when she caught on, “Then what is wrong?” She shouted. Sometimes she wanted to strangle that thing.  
  
“There seems to be a large temporal anomaly in the combined timeline of Mr. Snart and Mr. Rory. There is now only a 34% chance that on the night Captain Hunter invites them to join the crew of the Waverider, they will accept.”  
  
“What?” Ray exclaimed.  
  
“No,” Sara said quietly, more worried than she cared to admit.  
  
“Snart!” Mick yelled.  
  
“Crap!” Leonard cursed.  
  
At that exclamation, they all looked to Leonard who made a point of studying his shoelaces. “Leonard?” she queried. The man who met everything head on was avoiding looking at any of them. Right then she knew that somehow, whatever this was, it was all his fault. “What did you do?”  
  


**********  
  


After a brief explanation to Sara, Mick and Ray and a slightly longer explanation to Rip, Leonard found himself in the cargo hold ready to leave. They were in Central City on **that** night (for a third time). Rip was droning on about something, but honestly, he stopped listening after “Mr. Snart…”  
  
Sara looked worried. That was…promising. He almost smirked at that. Ray and Stein were having a heated discussion over something Rip mentioned.  
  
“You’d better know how to fix this, Lenny,” Mick bit out, interrupting all of them. Leonard turned to him in surprise. Not at the angry words, but a deeper emotion hidden behind them that only he noticed. Now he knew for sure that neither of them wanted to go back to being who they were before boarding the Waverider. That was a good thing.  
  
When he turned back, only Sara remained and he heard Mick walking down the ramp behind him exiting the ship. Sara closed the distance between them before she spoke, “I’m with Mick, you better know how to fix this.”  
  
“I have a pretty good idea where to start.” Leonard stood there quietly when Sara reached forward and grabbed the sides of his open jacket. She was lost in thought about something and he was pretty sure it was him. Getting more promising by the minute. “You afraid I’ll leave you with nobody to play cards with?” He added with a smile, but she did not react and continued to stare at her hands holding his jacket.  
  
Leonard knew this was important, but he had absolutely no idea what to do. With the kind of life he led, he never expected to be here like this with somebody. Let alone want to be. He remained still, afraid to ruin whatever was happening. She finally looked up and met his eyes and he watched all of the anxiety leave her face, as she realized or remembered something. Then she gave him a brilliant smile and he was so lost. Her hold on the front of his jacket tightened as she made a light tug forward and then a playful shove backwards as she released him, causing him to take half a step back.  
  
“Go fix this, crook,” she ordered him, that smile still fixed on her face. Sara spun and headed back into the Waverider, “and don’t forget to check the glove box,” she added as the door closed behind her.  
  
Leonard stared at the closed door for a few seconds. He thought for sure she was going to kiss him. He had no clue what he did to screw things up. And was “check the glove box” some secret code for an explanation or what he needed to do? He sighed and left the ship in search of Mick.  
  
This nice guy, hero crap was complicated.


	3. Beer in a Bar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos and comments! I hope you like this next chapter.  
> **********

Cisco Ramone sat in the passenger seat of Iris West’s car alone. She left him sitting here ten minutes ago while she went inside some seedy looking bar for a “crazy story that no one will ever believe” as she put it. He was still a little fuzzy as to why it was him and not Barry joining her on this adventure, especially since this place was…not a gathering spot for the upwardly mobile. He really should have said no when she insisted on his help and not somebody more qualified.  
  
Well, it could be worse.  
  
Cisco froze at that thought. Noooooooo! You never say or think that, as soon as you do, it gets worse. He glanced frantically out the window to see if worse was heading for him. The car was parked on the far edge of the lot, close enough to make out what was going on, but far enough to feel safe…safe-ish. Only some of the lights had working bulbs so it was relatively dark and oddly quiet. A few rough looking people coming and going, but nothing bad headed his way as far as he could tell. He sighed in relief and glanced at his watch. Forty-five more minutes and he could finally call Barry. Would Iris notice if he called a little early?  
  
The engineer started chewing on his thumbnail, then spent several moments concentrating on not chewing on his thumbnail. Then he crossed and uncrossed his arms. Then his attention settled on the sign for the establishment - the paint was peeling and more than a few letters were completely missing so the name of the bar currently read “ask Marl”. At least that was all he could read in the dark. He wondered if Marl looked like the cartoon fish on the sign…it might be blue in the daylight…daylight back in the 80s. The cheesy mask under the glasses it wore almost made him smile. Had Cisco been a decade or so older, he might have recognized a blatant rip-off of a fish that sold tuna on television. Why someone decided that looked like a marlin was anyone’s guess.  
  
He looked at his watch again – still thirty-five minutes left…well, it could be worse.  
  
Cisco froze again. What was wrong with him? He nervously glanced out the window, searching once again for worse heading his way. Even with tempting fate twice in one night, everything was still calm and quiet. He was never EVER doing a favor like this for Iris again. He was going to be a frantic mess before she got back to the car. And he was definitely going to call Barry if she didn’t get back soon.  
  
Like sooner than the hour they agreed on.  
  
The young man leaned his head against the cool glass of the window and continued his musings about Marl and what people should ask him. There was a hurried burst of activity amidst a small group of patrons smoking at the side of the building. A tall man in a dark jacket began yelling at them and suddenly punched one. They scattered, but before they all got away, he snagged one by the collar and slammed him against the side of the building. Cisco watched as the interrogator slammed the captured man against the building a second time which started the second man talking and gesturing wildly.  
  
Two things about this scene caused Cisco’s eyes to go wide in shock. First, the man was gesturing in his direction and second, the interrogator was Captain Cold.  
  
Cisco immediately slid down the passenger seat out of view and partially wedged himself in the leg space. What were the odds the guy was actually pointing at him? At least he no longer had to wait out the rest of the hour before calling Barry. Although now there was the little problem of being a little stuck, with his back arched awkwardly on the seat and his legs twisted beneath him. He reached for the pocket on his cargo pants where he kept his phone. His fingers fumbled with the button and the more he tried to hurry and unbutton, the more he fumbled at the button, his fingers barely touching it. He tried to shift his weight for better access, but none of his shifting allowed him access to his pocket.  
There were two raps of knuckles on the window and he looked straight up and out the window at Captain Cold frowning down on him.  
  
Well, at least it couldn’t POSSIBLY get any worse now.  
  
  


**********  
  
  


Iris shifted from her current place along the wall to one at the bar. She was doing her best to edge casually through the room, searching for Leonard Snart. She had a bottle of cheap beer in one hand, simply to use as camouflage since she had no intention of drinking it. She needed her wits about her and the partial beer she consumed earlier at her house was more than enough alcohol for the night. Even though she was dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt, she knew blending in was not a long-term option in this crowd. She was just too clean and too polite to really belong here.  
  
Then she spotted him at a booth towards the back of the room. He was alone and wearing that stupid parka, scowling and scribbling on something on the table. His motions jerky and tense as he shuffled through some papers. Even from across the room she felt how intense he was and it was no surprise that the other patrons gave his table a wide berth.  
  
Suddenly, he looked up, scowl still plastered on his face as he scanned the room. Iris casually raised the bottle to the side of her face as she tilted her head to let her hair fall forward. Hopefully it was enough to disguise her. He continued to study the room angrily, searching for Mick Rory she assumed. Then he looked at the ceiling and his face relaxed into a smile as if he just realized something. He brought his attention back to the papers on the table, but he seemed calmer than before.  
  
“Hey, pretty lady,” hot stale breath tickled her ear as some strange man spoke, “can I buy you a beer?”  
  
Iris jumped slightly at the man’s proximity and took a step away before answering, “I’m good.” She wiggled her full bottle at the man hitting on her. Then she turned her attention back to Leonard Snart’s table, but he was no longer there. “That’s not good,” she mumbled. Now she had to find him again.  
  
“Aw, don’t be sad,” the stranger was once again standing too close as he spoke, “I’ll buy you the next one.”  
  
“It’s OK, I’m...,” she stepped back, but bumped into someone behind her.  
  
“Move on, buddy,” the stranger in front of her said to whoever was behind her. “I was here first.”  
  
Not wanting to garner attention, she started to step aside to escape the situation when a hand clamped on her upper arm far too tightly. The man in front of her focused on the man behind her, attempting to stare him down. She rolled her shoulder and tugged, but the hand remained firmly on her arm. Then the stranger started to say something and hesitated. Now the man looked scared. Iris had a pretty good guess why.  
  
“Beat it,” Leonard Snart said grimly from behind her. The stranger swallowed thickly and faded into the crowd.  
  
  


**********  
  
  


Before the car door finished swinging open, Cisco blurted, “Please don’t kill me!” Pretty sure that wasn’t the first time he said that to the man. Hopefully not the last. Not hopefully in that he wanted to encounter Captain Cold EVER again, but hopefully in that he didn’t want to die this time. Then he realized the look on the other man’s face was more amused than homicidal. And then he didn’t know which was worse – that Captain Cold might kill him or that he might be laughing at him.  
  
“Come on, Ramon,” the man standing outside the car extended his hand to help him extricate himself. “That doesn’t look very comfortable.”  
  
Cisco reluctantly took the other man’s hand and spent several moments unfolding himself out of the car. When he finally stood and regained some composure, he folded his arms and stood up very straight. “Whatever you have planned,” he said earnestly, “the Flash will stop you.”  
  
“What I have planned,” the other man folded his arms to mimic Cisco while slouching against the car, “is getting the two of you out of here.”  
  
“Wait, what?” Caught off guard, Cisco searched for an explanation. “I’m here by myself,” he lied, but did not even convince himself. He fumbled for an explanation, “Iris has a story and she said she needed my help. When Iris has a story you either go along or get swept under.” He started pacing in a small area. “I told her that this was a very bad place and maybe somebody other than me should be helping her.” He started gesturing to the air as he paced, “I mean, terrible people come to this part of town. Only a horrible person would hang out here...” Cisco faltered when he realized he just insulted Captain Cold who stood there, unmoved. “I don’t care how good this story is, this was a very bad idea…”  
  
Captain Cold finally interrupted the rambling, making a lazy circle in the air with his hand and index finger, “Is this about done?”  
  
“Um, yeah,” Cisco immediately stopped talking and pacing. “Done.”   
  
“Now to get the two of you out of here so we can get tonight back on track.”  
  
“How did you even know we were here?” Cisco asked, but received no answer. “Why would you even care?” He mused, but then his train of thought took a strange turn, “Wait, you’re Iris’ story?” Captain Cold winced, but did not deny it.  
  
The taller man took a deep breath and began, “How much did she tell you?” Cisco did not reply, he simply stood there, mouth slightly open, stunned over this revelation. “Well, whatever she told you, I really need to get the two of you out of here before…” Captain Cold seemed to realize something and frowned deeply, “Damn it!”  
  
The curse shook Cisco out of his stupor and he saw Mick Rory making his way towards them. As much as Leonard Snart was not dressed like Captain Cold, Mick Rory was definitely dressed like Heatwave. The heavy fireman’s gear made the large man seem even larger and there was a strange light in his eye as his fingers twitched at the heat gun at his side.  
  
“Is that one of the Flash’s little friends?” He growled as he approached while drawing his gun and waving it in Cisco’s direction, “I didn’t get to play last time.”  
  
“Mick…” Captain Cold warned.  
  
The arsonist ignored the warning and continued directly for Cisco until he was distressingly close.  
  
“Mick…” Captain Cold warned a second time.  
  
Cisco imagined little burning Cisco’s in each green eye boring into him. Great. Now his imagination was being graphic AND creepy. Mick placed the muzzle of the gun against the engineer’s shoulder then trailed it down to the elbow, deciding where to shoot.  
  
“Mick!” Captain Cold yelled, but his friend did not acknowledge anything outside his current focus.  
  
Cisco watched in horror as he felt Mick Rory tap the muzzle against his shoulder again, still contemplating where to shoot him. There was no place to run – he was sandwiched between the heat gun and Iris’ car. Finally, he just squeezed his eyes tight. This was going to hurt more than anything EVER.  
  
There was a thump, followed by another thump which was NOT followed by searing flames. He cracked one eye open. Heatwave was on the ground unconscious and Leonard Snart was holstering the cold gun.  
  
“I don’t have time for this,” was all the man said.  
  
  


**********  
  
  


Snart dragged Iris roughly across the room to the table where she first saw him. He pushed her to sit down and she landed heavily. “So to what do I owe this visit?” He flopped down next to her in the booth.  
  
Iris knew without a doubt that this was not the man she met earlier this evening, but now that she had her proof, she was in trouble. This Leonard Snart was not as amenable to talking as the nicer version drinking beer on her couch had been. At least Cisco was safely outside, ready to call Barry when time was up. She just had to make it through the rest of the hour.  
  
“What, the writer at a loss for words?” He propped his elbow up on the table and placed his chin in his hand. He studied her and waited for an answer.  
  
“I heard you were planning something tonight,” she glanced down at the papers on the table and was surprised to find them filled with meaningless scribbles – triangles, swirls, random numbers.  
  
“Who.” It was not a question and he glared at her when she looked back up.  
  
“Rumors,” she shrugged. She was pretty sure if she kept him talking, she could bluff and bluster through the time left before rescue arrived. Snart was more preoccupied with whatever heist he had planned for tonight than he was in her.  
  
Someone slid into the booth next to her.  
  
“Mick. You’re late.”  
  
Iris’ face turned gray with fear. Leonard Snart was a dangerous criminal, but he was logical and reasonable. Mick Rory was another story. In fact, the story Caitlin told about the time she was kidnapped last year painted a picture of a man who was terrifying and more than a little unhinged. Iris did not even glance his way and worried that bluffing was no longer an option.  
  
“I got held up,” Mick finally replied. “Should you be messing with one of the Flash’s little friends tonight?” He was far more subdued than she expected him to be.  
  
Apparently, Snart thought so too and he frowned at his friend, “Are you feeling alright?”  
  
“Yeah. I’m good.” Unconvinced, Snart continued to stare at him. “What? I’m good,” Mick repeated.  
  
That seemed to placate the thief, he rose from the table and collected his papers as he spoke, “Bring her to the back room.” Then he strode through the bar, headed for one of the small rooms off the back hallway near the men’s room.  
  
Mick rose slowly and waited for Iris, she braced herself for what was coming next. All those talks with Caitlin. All those bruises on her arms and wrists from where Heatwave manhandled her during that kidnapping. As he reached for her arm, she flinched, but he wrapped his hand carefully around her upper arm. That shocked her so much that she was still staring at his hand when he gently pulled her forward to follow after Snart.  
  
As they began walking, she finally looked at him, but he was lost in thought and did not notice her scrutiny. He was dressed plainly in a weathered army jacket and jeans and he seemed so different than everything she heard about him. His clothes, his demeanor, the expression on his face…everything. She was struck by the fact that it was the same “different” as the Leonard Snart who raided her fridge a few hours earlier. Could he be…?  
  
Iris decided to test her theory.  
  
“Ow!” She cried out, “You’re hurting me!”  
  
The hand on her arm immediately popped open as Mick stopped and turned to her in surprise. His brows knit together and he looked uncomfortable for a moment. He grunted, turned to resume walking as he gently cupped her elbow to lead her forward.  
  
Iris was still processing Mick Rory’s uncharacteristic actions when they entered a small, dimly lit room. She expected to see Leonard Snart waiting for them, but the room was empty. Then she heard a loud whine ramping up behind her as the door slammed closed. Mick released her arm for a second time as she turned and saw Leonard Snart pointing a glowing cold gun directly at the back of Mick Rory’s head.  
  
  


**********  
  
  


Leonard and Cisco looked at Heatwave’s prone body for several moments.  
  
“I don’t have time for this,” Leonard repeated, more exasperated than the first time.  
  
“You…” Cisco sputtered, “you saved me.”  
  
“I think allowing your arm to be burned to a crisp would invalidate my deal with the Flash. Besides,” he flexed the fingers on his right hand as a memory intruded, “it hurts like a son of a bitch.”  
  
This night was becoming rapidly more complicated. The longer it took for things to get back on track, the more likely things were to stay off track. Rip always said time wanted to happen, but he had the feeling that in his case, time wanted to un-happen.  
  
“Sooooo…now what?” Cisco asked.  
  
“We stash you somewhere safe while we retrieve West,” Leonard answered even as Heatwave groaned and started to regain consciousness, “and then we get you two out of here.”  
  
“Who’s we?”  
  
Leonard grabbed Cisco by the jacket collar and dragged him away from the car and towards the bar. “You talk too much,” he complained as he pulled the engineer and gave him a push to walk faster and in front of him.  
  
“Barry never tells me that,” Cisco took his turn at complaining.  
  
“Probably because Barry talks too much too,” the thief muttered inaudibly.  
  
“So, who’s we?” Cisco asked a second time.  
  
“Mick.”  
  
“Wait a minute,” Cisco spun around and started walking backwards while continuing the conversation. “He’s back there,” he used both hands to point. “You two don’t seem to be on the same team tonight.”  
  
“Not that Mick, the other Mick.”  
  
“Wait, what? There are two of him now?” Leonard shrugged, “Wait. Does that mean there are two of you?” Leonard smirked, enjoying the younger man’s discomfort. “Wait. No. That is so unfair.” Cisco whined. “You’re making this up. How are there two of you and two of…”  
  
“Time travel.”  
  
“Oh yeah, that would TOTALLY work.”  
  
This was the part where Leonard needed to explain all of this to another person, making his task tonight that much more difficult. And yet, these were the Flash’s friends, they were the good guys, they might actually help. Help him and Mick after everything they put these people through? Not some innocent bystanders who deserved being rescued (although he and Mick only needed to be rescued from themselves…quite literally). He was still getting used to the crew of the Waverider being his friends and trusting them…mostly. How could he ask this? How could he expect them to…  
  
“I need you to promise me something, Cisco.” Leonard spoke before he talked himself out of it.  
  
“Or you’ll kill me?” The younger man chuckled nervously.  
  
“No,” Leonard replied flatly as they reached the side of the building, “just a promise.”  
  
“Oh,” Cisco grew serious, “promise what?”  
  
“That you won’t tell anyone about this. Especially not Barry.”  
  
  


**********  
  
  


Mick stood with his back to Leonard Snart, still holding his arms up while Iris watched helplessly. “I told you you would figure it out,” he mumbled.  
  
Snart looked puzzled for a moment, but recovered quickly. “Who are you and what did you do with Mick?” he insisted. When there was no answer, he looked to Iris, “What does the Flash have planned?”  
  
“Huh?” It was Iris’ turn to look puzzled.  
  
“He looks just like Mick.” He spoke to Iris, but the gun was still trained on the other man. “What is he? Some kind of meta that can change his appearance?”  
  
Before Iris decided whether to explain the truth or come up with a lie, Mick turned around slowly and answered. “Yeah, I help out the Flash sometimes.” Iris remained silent to see where this was going.  
  
“Hell, you even sound exactly like him,” Snart shook his head in wonder then turned humorless, “I thought I had a deal with the Flash. Why is he breaking it?”  
  
“Uh…” Mick searched for a reply, “He’s not. He was just…checking that you weren’t breaking it.”  
  
“That doesn’t sound very trusting, which doesn’t sound like the Flash at all.”  
  
“Well…he…he…” Mick searched for more of his story, “He’s been…uh…busy?”  
  
Iris saw Snart grow more suspicious of Mick’s terrible explanation so she quickly interjected to distract him, “How did you know?” Snart shot her a questioning glance. “How did you know it wasn’t Mick?”  
  
“Oh, he looks like him and even sounds just like him, but…” now it was Snart’s turn to search for an answer. “The eyes are wrong. Not enough anger or pain or…”  
  
“…or crazy?” Mick growled as waves of anger began to radiate off him. Even standing behind him and not seeing his face, Iris felt it. He clenched his fists as his shoulders tensed and she barely controlled the urge to take a step away from the man.  
  
“Huh,” Snart said thoughtfully, considering Mick, “like that kind of anger…”  
  
  


**********  
  
  


Cisco stopped walking as he considered Leonard’s request, but he was interrupted by yelling in the direction they just came from. Heatwave was on his feet, ranting and waving the heat gun in the air. Leonard was too far away to hear exactly what the arsonist was going on about, but there was one “Flash”, a number of “Snarts” and several expletives (primarily beginning with “F”). That pretty much summed up the evening on all accounts.  
  
“Come on,” the engineer tugged on Leonard’s sleeve.  
  
“I forgot about this part,” Leonard said quietly, caught up watching the fury of his friend, swearing and firing the heat gun into the air.  
  
“What part?”  
  
“He was headed for a dark place even before we got on the ship,” Leonard explained sadly, “I guess there was no getting around it.”  
  
There was a crowd gathering around Mick, some cheering and some yelling at him. Both sides of the coin fed into the man’s anger, making him more animated. With the number of cell phones these days, it was only a matter of time before somebody called the cops. He turned to continue on his way looping behind the bar, but realized Cisco no longer followed him.  
  
“Oh no,” horrified, the young man simply watched the scene continue to unfold and then repeated, “oh no.” Mick switched from firing the heat gun into the air, to firing at the car where Leonard found Cisco moments before. “Oh no,” Cisco said a third time as one of the front tires caught fire and began to burn. Leonard grabbed him by the collar and dragged him away.  
  
Behind the building it was dark. The only streetlight flickered, making the area seem more dangerous not less. Cisco trailed after Leonard who led them to an older black SUV.  
  
“Stay here until I come back,” he ordered Cisco as he opened the passenger door.  
  
Leonard began to worry because the engineer was no longer talking too much. In fact, the young man sullenly climbed into the SUV and just sat there. Finally, it dawned on him, the car must belong to one of them. Car payments, insurance, responsibility…normal people things. He looked at his hand still on the handle of his “borrowed” vehicle as he closed Cisco safely inside.  
  
Leonard sighed and headed for the back door of the bar. Now to find West and save her from… well… him probably.  
  
  


**********

A loud explosion rocked the bar. The windows rattled. Bottles and glasses clinked together. The patrons in the bar quieted to a low murmur.  
  
Mick charged Snart, swatting the gun upwards, but it never fired. The momentum of the larger man carried both of them into the far wall where Mick grabbed the wrist holding the gun and smashed it into the wall three times. On the third time, the gun dropped to the floor. The two grappled for a few seconds and then Mick slammed Snart into the wall. Dazed, Snart threw an ill-timed punch that connected with nothing. Taking advantage of his friend being off-balance, Mick threw a punch that connected hard with his opponent’s jaw. Snart dropped to his knees and shook his head. Mick hauled him up to his feet by the front of his jacket.  
  
Snart blinked, glassy-eyed as recognition filtered in, “Mick?”  
  
“Sorry, boss,” Mick apologized and knocked the other man unconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **********  
> There's a lot of back and forth and I hope it wasn't confusing. I read it so many times that I hope it's clear. Also getting longer than I thought...lol


	4. Empty Beer Bottles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had to up the ratings because there is some cursing in this chapter. Enjoy!
> 
> **********

Mick Rory looked down at the unconscious form of Leonard Snart and allowed himself a half smile. He and Lenny patched things up since he returned to the Waverider, but it still felt pretty good to see his friend on the ground. He looked up at the girl he was here to save and saw she was caught somewhere between fascination and panic. The cop’s daughter. The reporter. What the fuck was her name again? Some kind of flower…

“Hey, Petal,” he called out gruffly, “you OK there?”

Flower girl frowned, probably because of the nickname, but she visibly relaxed, “Yeah. Thanks. This is so…”

“…weird.” He finished for her. “I know. It was weirder watching young me hold baby Lenny,” he smiled and shook his head at the memory.

Flower girl…Petal…whatever… looked stunned for a moment, either at his comment or his smile, and then relaxed even more as she tentatively smiled back at him. “No way!”

At least now he was sure she wasn’t going to bolt. Pretty sure anyways. He was relieved it wasn’t one of the Flash’s other friends. The tech kid with the hair that Lenny tortured or that pretty doctor he…his mouth went dry before he finished his thought. There were too many new feelings rattling around in his chest these days and there was no way he could cope with regret or shame tonight. He frowned to chase it away.

“Let’s get out of here,” he inclined his head towards the door.

Petal reached the door first and started to open it when Mick suddenly slapped his hand against it. The violence of his motion ripped the doorknob from her hand and she gasped. She started to move away, wary of him once again.

“Listen,” he pointed at the door. In the aftermath of the explosion, the patrons of the bar erupted with loud voices and the sound of breaking furniture and glass. Beyond the door was a full on bar fight. Usually one of his favorite things, but navigating it with someone who couldn’t defend herself was going to be a bitch and a half. “The back exit is to the right and straight down the hall. If it’s clear, you head for it. Lenny is back there waiting for us.”

This time Mick reached for the door, “Wait!” Petal called out, stopping short of touching his arm to stop him. He paused while she lowered her hand and continued. “Cisco is out front. We need to go get him.”

“Lenny did a sweep. Probably already has him. Let’s get you out first, then we’ll worry about your friend.” She nodded. He expected an argument. More drama, more crying, more demands or at least more complaining, but she seemed pretty willing to trust him. Nobody other than Lenny or Lisa ever did that. And there came along another one of those new feelings that he didn’t have time for – it was warm, gentle and made him want to smile. He grimaced to chase it away.

Mick opened the door wide enough to look out, seeing the path clear he motioned to Petal to follow him. They quickly walked down the hallway to the rear fire exit. He hit the bar and the door did not move. She looked at him in surprise and the two of them pushed against it simultaneously and it shifted, but did not open. This time they both heard a metallic rattle.

“Seriously?” Petal cried out angrily, “Chaining the fire exit? What. The. Hell.”

“Good thing there’s nobody in the place that might want to burn it down,” he stated dryly.

The girl turned to him apprehensively, but something in his expression must have changed her mind and she almost smiled. “Good thing,” she echoed him, shaking her head.

“OK,” he turned around, heading for the front entrance, “Hard way it is.”

The two began to make their way through the bar and towards the front door, swimming upstream through the brawl. The first person to approach them was a scraggly guy with stringy yellow hair. The guy threw a wild punch that Mick caught with his left hand. He yanked the guy forward and off-balance and retaliated by smashing a fist in his nose. There was a spray of blood and the guy went down.

It was enough for Mick to lose focus.

The chaos around him was glorious. It was like fire, destructive with a mind of its own. It raged around him as he contemplated all the things he wanted to do. Upend a nearby table and send all of the bottles crashing to the floor. Charge the three men to his left and see which of them would last the longest. Hop behind the bar and pour himself a drink…or three. His heartrate sped with excitement and he clenched his fists. There were so many choices…

Choice.

A large man with dark hair was behind Petal and he grabbed a fistful of her hair. She yelped as he pulled and for the first time in his life, Mick chose. He ignored the pull of chaos. He needed to protect this woman. He needed to get this woman out of here. He especially needed to fix whatever Lenny did to fuck up the timeline. He strode purposefully towards the man attacking the girl. She stomped on the man’s instep and the two disentangled even as he closed the space between them. So she wasn’t Lenny or Sara, she wasn’t completely useless either. He head-butted his opponent to get his attention and then viciously slammed the man down on a nearby table. He heard her gasp as he adjusted his grip on the man’s hair and jacket to slam him a second time. He let go and the body slid limply to the floor.

Mick looked at Petal and grinned, but she seemed hesitant about him again. Oh well, not everyone appreciated violence like he did. His grin fell as he grunted his disappointment, but then he noticed something else in her expression.

“Look out!” He was spinning around even as she cried out, but he was too late. Something hard and cold struck him solidly across the back of the head. He staggered a step forward as his vision swam. His thighs bumped into a table and he leaned forward on his left hand to steady himself. He was struck a second time, much harder and he heard glass breaking.

This time he let the anger take over. He turned wildly and grabbed the man who hit him. The man let out a noise of surprise, probably still trying to figure out why the first blow didn’t take him down. Once he had a good hold, he dragged the man over to the bar and tossed him over. Not an easy feat since the guy was bigger than him. The body crashed into the liquor bottles stacked on the backsplash and landed heavily.

Mick turned around again, looking for the girl. She was watching him and didn’t see that she was about to be caught in the middle of another clash between several patrons. He ran towards her and he saw the confusion form in her eyes as she wondered if he was attacking her. He ploughed into her and snatched her away just before the two groups clashed. His momentum kept them going to the wall where he slipped a hand behind her head and caught himself on his forearms. Her head bounced harmlessly off his hand and she let out a soft “oof”. He was about to pull away from her when he saw another incoming attack. Mick kept her pinned against the wall as somebody swung a piece of shit chair and splintered it across his lower back. He grunted. A beer bottle shattered against the wall to the right of his head. Petal grabbed the sides of his jacket collar and buried her face in the front of his shirt.

Mick felt everything slow. This was the first time this ever happened to him. This woman was clinging to him like she trusted him to keep her safe. Like he was her hero.

Fuck. He was going to have to admit to Lenny that he was right about all this. He kinda liked this hero shit.

Although now he was getting his ass kicked. Something thrown bounced off his left shoulder blade, probably another beer bottle he assumed as it smashed to the ground. His head was throbbing where he’d been struck and it was getting more difficult to concentrate. While he wasn’t going to lose consciousness, his first hero act was rapidly slipping away. The two of them were no longer the focus of the fighting around him, but they were no closer to the front door than when they started.

Any other time he would charge the front door, dragging the girl behind him or, more likely, just leave her here. Now he was worried that if he moved the girl would get hurt. He could take a lot of punishment so they were safe for now, but he needed an escape route soon. Unfortunately, that was Lenny’s gig and he wasn’t here to help with the thinking part.

A hand landed on his left shoulder and he swung his elbow expecting to connect with a face. Whoever it was moved, as if they expected his reaction. The hand landed on his shoulder again, this time it was accompanied with, “Mick!” He knew that voice. “Let’s go! The back door is open.” Lenny grabbed a fistful of the jacket covering his shoulder and tugged on it.

Mick straightened away from the wall and swayed. Petal warned Lenny, “He’s injured.”

The thief’s eyes narrowed when he saw the blood on the back of Mick’s head, “I see that. I guess I’m the muscle this time.”

Lenny began clearing a path for them to the back door, luckily it was still pretty empty in the hallway. It always amazed him how different their fighting styles were, but how well they worked together. A reflection of their friendship he supposed. Lenny was fast and always three moves ahead of his opponent while Mick just liked to charge in and power through a fight.

Something suspicious crawled into his head.

The fight with Lenny when he was locked up on the Waverider… that should have gone on longer. Not that he should have lost, just that it was pretty short. It should have hurt a lot more. After thirty years of sparring with the man he knew Lenny hit really hard, probably from thirty years of hitting him. All that goading from Lenny to kill him…was he just making sure all his anger was spent? Was he making sure the last bit of Chronos was gone? Probably knew exactly how many minutes it was going to take to be over.

That manipulative bastard.

Maybe they needed another ‘talk’. He was surprised to find there was no real heat behind the thought. No anger. The old Mick would have attacked Lenny right now before they left the bar. Hell, the old Mick would never have realized what Lenny did, but he understood now. It was Lenny’s way of protecting the crew and protecting him. The old Mick would never think about how he didn’t deserve such a good friend, let alone new ones, or a second chance. Maybe someday he could save Snart and prove that he was a good friend too.

Shit. His head was pounding and making him think too much which was the opposite of what a sore head should do. The Professor probably had a fancy word for all this dumb thinking about shit that already happened. Right now all he needed to do was make sure the girl got out safely. As he adjusted his focus to the current moment, it registered that he was already following Lenny to the back door. Then he noticed an arm wrapped around his middle and the girl tucked up under his shoulder. She even smelled like a flower.

It was official. He was a complete failure at the hero thing.

It was bad enough earlier when Ray helped him back on the Waverider, but this was worse. He was supposed to be rescuing her and it felt more like she was rescuing him. Once they were out the back door, Lenny joined Petal in helping him walk. He saw the black SUV that Lenny stole earlier, but somebody was inside. Somebody was stealing their car!

Mick stopped walking and both Lenny and Petal took a stumbling step when they were forced to stop with him. “If you pass out,” Lenny drawled, “I’m leaving you here because you’re too heavy to carry.”

Petal inhaled sharply at the harsh words, but Mick heard the concern in Lenny’s voice. He started walking again, realizing the person stealing the car was actually one of the Flash’s friends, the tech guy with the hair that the girl mentioned while they were still in the bar. Petal opened the rear driver side door and Lenny helped him into the backseat. As soon as the door closed, he sagged against it.

Lenny got in the driver seat and the girl sat next to him in the back. Something pressed against his head - she was holding something there in an attempt to stop the bleeding. He tried to say “thank you,” but it came out a garbled mess.

It was coming back, he felt it at the edges of his nerve endings. The wave of pain was about to crash over him again. He sat up straight and grabbed the driver’s seat to brace himself. The wave crashed over him and it was as excruciating as when it happened on the Waverider. His fingers dug into the leather of the seat, but he refused to flail or cry out this time. He didn’t want to embarrass himself. Fuck. That was new. He never gave a thought to embarrassment before. The pain intensified and he lost all coherent thought. He felt tension and pain radiating off of Lenny in front of him. He was vaguely aware of tech guy and flower girl talking, but it was so far away. So very far away behind the pain.

As suddenly as it arrived, the pain was just… gone.

“Are you alright?” Petal asked.

Mick tried to focus on her face and give her a proper response, but his mouth moved without a sound. Then he sagged against the door and his head softly thudded against the window as he lost consciousness.

 

**********

 

Iris continued to apply pressure to the back of Mick Rory’s head. The night quickly morphed from her researching a story into her being the story. She pulled her hat away from the wound to look at it, the bleeding finally slowed, but it was going to need to be cleaned and bandaged. A normal person would need stitches and a few days rest, he probably needed a nap and a shot of something strong. She looked at her ruined hat, good thing she brought one she disliked tonight.

Good thing Heatwave was there to save her. Now that was the strangest thought, but it was true. She was too accustomed to the Flash being there to save her from her crazy stunts and dangerous ideas. Barry could not be there all the time to save her, just look at tonight. She needed to start thinking before doing things or else she was going to get herself or someone else hurt or worse. But she did get somebody hurt already. She looked at the bloody mess at the back of Mick’s head as she thought back to the fight in the bar. His back was going to be a mess of purple bruises before the night was over. Because of her.

Worse yet, what was that attack the two men just suffered? Their pain was a tangible thing. It had to have something to do with time travel and her discussion with Leonard earlier. Why was she suddenly all concerned about Leonard Snart and Mick Rory? And maybe that was the answer. They weren’t Captain Cold and Heatwave, tonight they were just Leonard and Mick. Strangely enough, she was actually starting to like them. Anyway, if she didn’t help them, who else would? She really needed to stop getting emotionally involved in her stories.

Looking to the front seat Iris asked, “Cisco, how is he?”

“I’m fine,” Leonard replied weakly.

“You don’t LOOK fine,” Cisco contradicted.

“Give me a minute, it will pass.” Leonard made a vague waving motion with his right hand, but it was obvious he could barely move.

People were beginning to spill out the back door and there were sirens in the distance. Right. Somebody needed to do something.

“Cisco, give me a hand.” Iris exited the car, circled to the driver’s door and opened it. “Come on, Leonard,” she reached into the car to help him get out. Cisco joined her and the two of them managed to get him standing and walking around the car. “You’re getting demoted from captain to navigator.”

That elicited a weak chuckle from the thief as they helped him into the passenger seat. Cisco reluctantly climbed into the back while Iris circled around the SUV to the driver’s seat. Once inside, she looked toward Leonard and Cisco. “Now what?”

Silence.

After a few moments, Cisco had a suggestion, “We could go to S.T.A.R. Labs…”

“Of course we can,” Leonard’s smile quickly turned into a smirk. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and middle finger, then shook his head.

“Barry is with Patty,” Cisco ticked off his explanation on his fingers, “Caitlin is out with Jay, and Harry should be asleep by now. We can patch up Heatw… him,” he pointed at Mick, “and we can figure out our next move in whatever this is.” He made an exaggerated circular motion with both hands to indicate ‘this’.

“ **Our** next move, huh?” Leonard drawled. Cisco fidgeted and started to stammer a reply in an effort to backpedal, but the other man spoke first. “Good a plan as any, kid.” The thief made an amused sound as he replied, but he looked resigned. Like this was all one big joke being played on him. He smiled at Iris and made a sweeping gesture with his left hand, indicating that she drive.

Iris noticed he was pretty cute when he smiled.

Where did that come from? Like he was some guy she worked with and was planning to fix him up with one of her friends - not one of Central City’s supervillains. But was he that anymore? She risked a glance in his direction. He was just sitting there relaxed, head back against the seat with a bemused smile on his face. Were either of them? She looked in the rearview mirror to see Mick Rory still slumped against the door and unconscious. All that abuse he suffered to protect her, not something she ever expected.

Cisco Ramon was the voice of reason? Mick Rory was her hero? Leonard Snart was kinda cute?

Tonight was officially weird as hell.

“Seatbelt,” Iris bit out.

Leonard laughed out loud at that. He pulled the belt across him, but it slipped from his hand and snapped to the door. The second try he secured it. He was still grinning as Iris drove them towards S.T.A.R Labs.

 

**********

 

Caitlin Snow awoke slowly from a deep sleep. She stretched sleepily and her arms bumped the arm of the couch. Couch? Oh yeah, she fell asleep on the couch in the back room of S.T.A.R. Labs. The room where Barry and Cisco sometimes played video games and where she sometimes watched movies. That’s right, she fell asleep watching something cute and funny from the 40s. She yawned and heard Cisco’s voice in the main room where Team Flash protected the city.

What was he doing here so late? Better yet, why was she here? Oh yeah, avoiding a date with Jay. It made no sense. He was intelligent. He was sweet. She found him very attractive and yet, there was something holding her back. She agreed to the date and then suddenly didn’t want to go. So she made a lame excuse and he was disappointed, but polite. When sleep eluded her at her apartment, she came here.

More of Cisco’s conversation filtered in from the other room through the door. He was talking to someone and excited about something, but she only made out a few of the words. Whoever he was talking to was less animated and very soft-spoken so she barely heard him, yet he seemed familiar. Probably one of Cisco’s new engineering friends. She met several of them over the last few months and currently couldn’t remember a single name. Maybe when she saw his face it would come to her.

Caitlin rose from the couch and stretched again, still mostly asleep. She ran a hand through her hair, but it tangled and got stuck. “Nuts…” she cursed. “Knots…” she corrected sleepily. The hair on the side where she slept was matted and pressed flat to her head. She tugged on her shirt and attempted to straighten the wrinkles out of her normally crisp and smooth blouse. When the wrinkles decided to stay, she decided to leave the shirt half untucked in her pants as well. It was just Cisco’s friends out there and she was too sleepy to care how she looked.

As she made her way to the door of the main room, a second male voice bellowed, “Hey! Watch it!” The voice was very familiar, but for some reason she couldn’t quite place it either. Too tired to care.

“Stop being such a big baby!” Iris chastised the second voice. The second voice mumbled something in a low growl, but didn’t yell again. The first voice laughed or at least she assumed it was the first voice since it was definitely not Cisco’s laugh. Wait, Iris? What was Iris doing here this late? And with Cisco… this made no sense.

Caitlin opened the door quietly and since they all had their backs to her, nobody noticed her presence. She used the opportunity to observe her friends and their guests.

Cisco stood in front of the whiteboard studying some kind of color-coded flow chart. He had a red marker in his hand and made a circle with a notation in it. Then he conferred in a low voice with the tall stranger standing next to him. The tall man was holding the markers and Cisco swapped the red for another color and added another shape and notes to the board. Even with his back to her, she knew the stranger was frustrated and barely tolerant of Cisco’s antics.

“I’m a reporter, not a nurse!” Iris yelled and lightly swatted her patient in the shoulder. The man in question was seated at the counter with his head down, cradled in his folded arms on the counter. The only thing she really noticed about him was broad shoulders and bald head. His reaction to the reporter’s outburst was a weird grumbling noise. Caitlin could honestly not tell if it was a complaint or an amused sound. It might have been both.

Iris turned to Cisco and the man at the white board, “And I don’t see why I have to be the pink marker.” The bald man mumbled something and the tall man laughed again. “Shut up!” Caitlin watched as Iris debated whether or not to swat her patient again, but she settled for putting her hands on her hips to display her annoyance.

Caitlin studied the whiteboard closely and sure enough, at the bottom right Cisco wrote in bright pink marker ‘IW = Iris West’. She continued to read upwards from that part of the key. Next in red marker it read ‘HW = Heatwave’ and above that in turquoise ‘CC = Captain Cold’. That couldn’t be right. She began to panic as her eyes darted to the bald man near Iris.

Was it him?

It was him.

It couldn’t be him.

No, it was him.

“So, Doc,” Captain Cold drawled without turning around, “you happy you decided to join us?”

Cisco spun around in shock, “Caitlin, you’re not supposed to be here!”

Iris turned with a surprised, “Oh!”

Heatwave raised his head off the counter and looked at her, but he said nothing.

Caitlin felt the room tilt and then begin to spin. She faintly heard Cisco rushing to explain and apologize. There was a distinct possibility she was going to faint. Embarrassing. Awkward. Also - unavoidable.

“I don’t think she’s happy to see us,” Captain Cold remarked. “ **Somebody** might want to catch her.”

“Huh?” Cisco ended his litany of apologies and stood there bewildered.

“On it, boss,” Heatwave replied at the same time.

Caitlin felt the room spin in the opposite direction. Her knees buckled. She decided that blackness was very nice, because this was a strange dream that she so did not want to have. Before the blackness completely engulfed her, she felt a strong arm behind her knees and another across her shoulders as she was scooped up. Reflexively, she looped her arms around his neck and laid her cheek on his collarbone, her nose pressed into the side of his neck. She felt his step falter in surprise. Safe, solid, warm was all her fuzzy brain came up with as she relaxed into him.

Reality slammed into Caitlin. She sat up and snatched both arms away from Heatwave and tucked her hands under her chin. She didn’t struggle because she had no interest in being dropped, but she was tempted. He deposited her on the hospital bed at the far side of the room with a simple, “There ya go, Doc,” and then moved away before she had time to process her reaction.

Cisco was in front of her apologizing again, but before he overwhelmed her, Iris was there shooing him away. “Don’t you boys have a timeline to finish reconstructing?” She motioned at the whiteboard and Cisco joined Captain Cold who was studying the mess of colors and notes. “You need to relax,” Iris placed a bottled water in her hand, “because your night is about to get weird as hell.” As if to punctuate that remark, Captain Cold tapped a marker on the top of Cisco’s head to get his attention. Then he erased a blue circle and Cisco shook his head, disagreeing with the change. Caitlin missed the rest of their exchange when Iris pointed in the opposite direction of the whiteboard and she followed the motion. “And you! You need to have her look at your head because...”

The rest of her command was lost when Heatwave interrupted, “Hey, Petal, you sayin’ I need my head examined?”

Caitlin had no control over the laugh that bubbled out, but she immediately slapped both hands over her mouth. Heatwave grinned at her. At some point he must have moved his stool to the side of her bed because now he sat there with his arms draped over the metal rail.

“Mick,” Iris continued, “I’m serious.” He grimaced and rested his chin on his forearm. Then Iris turned to Caitlin, “I couldn’t get all of the glass out, you really do need to look at it.” She gave Caitlin’s arm a reassuring squeeze and added quietly, “When you feel up to it.” Then she moved closer to the whiteboard to join the conversation there.

Caitlin watched them for a moment as Cisco made another notation on the board, this time in yellow. When she looked at the key, there were new names – Cisco’s in yellow and hers in green. As if she needed anything about this night in writing. Captain Cold tapped Cisco on the head with a marker for a second time. When Cisco made a grab for it, the taller man held it up and out of reach as he spoke to Iris. Iris doubled over with the giggles. There was no way that Caitlin was ever going to get used to that.

She turned her attention to the opposite direction and met with the view of Mick Rory’s large hands far too close for any kind of comfort. She noted his knuckles were red and raw, like he’d just been in a fight. When she looked to his face, she saw dried blood on the side of his neck and on his jacket collar. Iris and Cisco seemed pretty relaxed around the two criminals. Perhaps treating them like anyone else was the most expedient way through this evening.

“That needs to be treated.” Caitlin started to slide off the bed to stand when a heavy hand landed on her shoulder. Her body stiffened as she sucked in a startled breath. The hand immediately withdrew.

“It’s fine,” Heatwave mumbled, “You don’t have to…”

“You don’t get to tell me what to do!” She snapped at him before he finished.

This time she hopped off the bed and began gathering first aid supplies. When she had what she needed, she watched him for a moment while he studied the whiteboard with the others. She removed all emotion from her face as best she could and called out, “Mr. Rory?” He turned to look at her as she pointed at a stool next to her by the counter. She fiddled with supplies, like pointing at a chair was going to get that mass of stubborn to move. Before she could decide on her next course of action, he was walking over to sit on the stool she indicated moments before. He sat down with his back to her.

OK, so that was going to work. Iris wasn’t wrong about this night being strange as all get out.

 

**********

 

Mick felt the doctor cleaning out the wound on the back of his head that he received earlier this evening. He expected her ministrations to hurt a lot more or even hurt a little, but she was careful with whatever she was doing. He knew she was nervous around him and couldn’t blame her. The last time, well, the only time, they met he scared the shit out of her. He figured he owed it to her to dig around his head and cause him some pain, but she didn’t. She was too nice a person to pull that shit.

After a few moments, the Doc spoke out loud, “It’s a timeline of tonight,” she said barely above a whisper.

“Yeah,” Mick confirmed for her, “Lenny fu…fumbled earlier tonight a few months ago and now we have to figure out where sh…stuff went wrong.”

“That sounds like the two of you…” the Doc’s voice trailed off as she tried to find another explanation, but then finally finished with, “…are time travelers.”

“Not if we don’t fix this we’re not,” Lenny was clearly annoyed over the lack of progress on the problem.

“Not like it was my fault this time,” Mick shot back, equally annoyed.

Lenny spun around and he exchanged an angry glare with his friend. When Lenny turned back around to face the whiteboard, the tension remained between the two of them.

“Hey! Ponytail!” Mick yelled as he started to stand, but there was a gentle hand on his shoulder pulling him down.

“Almost finished,” the Doc said quietly. He sat back down immediately, surprising himself with how easily he obeyed her.

“Ponytail!” This time he got the tech guy’s attention, he motioned curtly for the kid to move away from the whiteboard. He wanted a better look at the first bit, the thing that started this night spiraling to shit. “You went for a beer at Petal’s house? That’s what started all of this?” This time when he stood, the Doc didn’t stop him. “Why there?” He felt there was something significant in that, but he was missing a piece and couldn’t quite put it together.

“I didn’t specifically go there!” Lenny countered. “I just wound up there!”

“Well, you should have gone somewhere else!” Mick felt his temper gaining momentum. He and Lenny started moving towards each other as the argument escalated.

“Like that shit bar we were at tonight?” Lenny was clearly pissed now because he was cursing and had that cold hard look in his eyes.

That just raised the temperature on Mick’s anger, “You could have done anything else. Like played cards with Blondie or something.”

“Guys?” Ponytail nervously attempted to rein them in, “maybe we could take it down a notch?” He was ignored and the atmosphere thickened.

“I needed to get away from the ship!”

This was usually the part in one of their arguments where they pulled guns on each other, but Mick was pretty sure they were better than that now. Come to think of it, of all the times over the years they pointed guns at each other, they never did it without the safety on. Not once. As if they both knew they would never actually shoot, but didn’t know how else to deal with their anger.

“You could’ve come got me before you left!” Mick was yelling now.

One of the other people in the room, he was pretty sure it wasn’t one of the women, squeaked. It took him a moment to realize he was looking down the barrel of the heat gun straight into the muzzle of the cold gun. Both guns were glowing. Maybe they hadn’t changed. Maybe they weren’t better people after all.

“You weren’t there!” Lenny’s voice was thick with emotion as he repeated more quietly, “You weren’t there.” The cold gun wavered.

Mick knew exactly what that meant, even before all of the pain and guilt on his friend’s face registered. He never saw that look on Lenny’s face before. Ever. All of his anger dissipated. He spun and took several strides back to the counter were he slapped the heat gun down on the surface. He gripped the edge of the counter and took a few ragged breaths. The anger was gone, but he was left raw and unsettled by the argument. He heard Lenny stuff the cold gun back into the holster and kick over a stool.

There it was again, at the edges of his nerve endings. It was on its way back. They hadn’t fixed anything about this night. “He’s gonna need help,” he motioned vaguely at Lenny even as the pain crashed over him and dropped him to his knees. He sensed a flurry of activity and conversation in the room, but the pain overloaded his senses and everything blurred.

This was worse than the fire. This was worse than dealing with the burns after the fire. He curled up on his side and concentrated on not screaming in pain. This one was worse than the other…whatever these were. Maybe he and Lenny were fighting a losing battle. Maybe it was inevitable that they not change. Maybe all the universe was going to let them be was a thief and an arsonist. He was so tired of all this pain. He was ready to go back to being an angry man who liked fire too much.

There was a gentle brush of fingertips along his jaw and he opened his eyes even as the pain receded. He was flat on his back and the doctor was kneeling at his side holding his hand. No, that wasn’t right. His brain was still muddy from the pain as he realized she was checking his vitals, hands fluttering at his wrist and then at his neck. Doctor Snow was clearly worried about him. But she hated him. His brow furrowed, but the concern remained on the woman’s face. Nobody ever worried about him. Then he remembered the bar fight and Iris holding on to him like she trusted him to save her. Nobody ever looked at him like he was a good man.

Maybe Ray had it right. In order for him to be a hero, all he needed to do was change his definition of the perfect score. But maybe Ray also had it a little wrong. Maybe it wasn’t just about what you were willing to die for, but what you were willing to live for.

Maybe he and Lenny still had a chance to fix all this…

For the second time in his life, Mick Rory chose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not really sure where it is going from here so the next update will be a little while. I know how it ends, just not this next bit. Anywho, thanks for reading! And thanks for the kudos and comments.


	5. Recycle Responsibly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! I didn't have any ideas for this part of the story. It was originally going to be much shorter and do a fade to black to the ending. I've been enjoying writing this so much I felt it deserved a proper chapter. I do know how it ends (I just have no idea how I'm getting there!)
> 
> I'm also updating previous chapters - just some tweaks and cleanup.
> 
> How hard do you think I laughed when Mick called Cisco "Ponytail" during "Invasion!"...lol
> 
> Anywho, enjoy!

Leonard Snart stared at the only note on the whiteboard that was truly important – the one at the end that simply read “Waverider”. This entire night was out of control and, if possible, only getting worse. The need to bail, to cut and run, pressed increasingly harder on him as the night wore on, but there was no way out of this one. Not without leaving everything he wanted and everything he was becoming behind. He just needed a way to get the two of them on the Waverider day after tomorrow.

Mick and Snow were talking quietly behind him, then he heard her say, “That sounds like the two of you are time travelers.”

“Not if we don’t fix this we’re not,” Leonard snapped at her more harshly than he intended.

“Not like it was my fault this time,” Mick grumbled.

Leonard turned around and glared at Mick because it actually was his fault. Mick’s ability to be stubborn, stupid and angry all at the same time is what happened. He left Mick stranded because of it and he left the ship on the night that started all of this because of it. Leonard turned back to the whiteboard to continue deliberating on a possible solution for the current problem, but he felt the tension between the two of them expanding. It was going to get worse before it got better.

“Hey! Ponytail!” Mick grew louder, but Leonard ignored the conversation around him and continued to stare at the end of the timeline and the word “Waverider”. What if there was no solution? What if they never get on the ship? What if he never meets Sara? What if he never becomes something…more? He scrubbed a hand over the top of his head. This is why you never get emotional about things – you can’t think straight. This many emotions flooding through him hadn’t happened since he was a kid. He suspected there was an easy solution to all of this, but for once in his life, he just could not see the big picture.

“Ponytail!” Mick yelled a second time. Leonard saw Ramon move to one side as Mick continued, “You went for a beer at Petal’s house? That’s what started all of this?” He paused in confusion, “Why there?”

“I didn’t specifically go there!” Leonard turned to face his friend. “I just wound up there!”

“Well, you should have gone somewhere else!” Mick took a few steps closer as his temper ignited. This is what Leonard suspected earlier, they needed to have this out before they could move on.

“Like that shit bar we were at tonight?” Leonard was startled by the curse that spilled out. He almost never cursed, a leftover habit from when Lisa was little, but he was genuinely angry, another thing that rarely happened.

“You could have done anything else,” Mick threw at him. “Like played cards with Blondie or something.”

“Guys?” Ramon nervously stood between them, “maybe we could take it down a notch?” He was ignored and the atmosphere thickened.

“I needed to get away from the ship!” Leonard felt it. He was too emotional and wild, things he normally associated with Mick and for once he felt like letting go. Not having control. Losing control.

“You could’ve come got me before you left!” Mick’s anger bubbled over and he was yelling now.

Cold gun. Heat gun. Simultaneously drawn.

Leonard stared down the barrel of the cold gun at Mick and wondered what it would feel like to actually pull the trigger just this once. He was angry and emotional enough to do it this time. The logical part of his brain that never completely shuts off determined that it wouldn’t feel like much of anything since the safety was on. He sighed mentally when he realized he did not want to shoot Mick, no matter how tempting it was sometimes. He settled for scowling at his friend.

“Guys?” Ramon repeated in a high-pitched squeak.

“You weren’t there!” Leonard barely choked the words out past all of the emotions inside of him. “You weren’t there.” The cold gun wavered and he almost lowered it, but now he needed to talk Mick down in order to redirect the anger before the man hurt someone. Nothing came to him. All he could do was feel all of the pain and all of the guilt about what happened to them that day. The day he abandoned his friend.

Something that never happened ever before occurred in that moment – all of the anger spilled out of Mick. It was like someone took a glass and upended it, dumping the anger out and it was just gone. The arsonist turned, walked over to the counter on the far side of the room and put his weapon down. Leonard was so surprised, it took a few moments before he holstered his gun.

Well, if Mick was going to act all reasonable, maybe he should act like Mick. After an argument, Mick generally liked to break things so he looked around for the nearest inanimate object. A stool. Perfect. He gave it a half-hearted kick. The stool tipped up on two legs, balanced for a moment and then fell over with a pathetic ‘clunk’. He felt the ends of his mouth twitch. It wasn’t funny. His mouth twitched a little more and he felt the beginning of a smile. Well, maybe just a little funny.

West looked at him with concern and Ramon’s shoulders relaxed now that the altercation was over. Leonard briefly searched for something witty to say to sweep the last of the tension from the room.

“He’s gonna need help,” Mick said from behind him, his voice strained and clipped.

Before he turned to ask what that meant, he felt all of the muscles in his body contract. Another one of those attacks. Then he stopped breathing. He felt everything and nothing at all. He was vaguely aware of Mick dropping to the floor behind him and then of West and Ramon hovering nearby. Asking him questions? All of the words blurred and blended together through the pain.

When the pain receded, he expected to crumple to the ground. This was the worst attack by far and each one left him weaker for a longer period of time. His legs wobbled and no amount of effort was going to keep him standing, but he didn’t hit the ground. West and Ramon were on either side of him holding him up.

At first they started in different directions, but then Ramon clarified while pointing, “Harry’s chair.” The two of them helped Leonard to a wheeled office chair where he sat down, but he had to concentrate on remaining upright. The woman continued watching him to be sure he was fine, but the young man took a seat at a desk and began typing at a keyboard and reviewing a monitor.

“Well, that was a barrel of laughs,” Mick commented, still laying on his back on the floor.

“What was that?” Doctor Snow asked, leaning over Mick’s side.

“Proof.” Mick said flatly, then broke into a crazy grin. “Proof that there is someone who is more of a stubborn ass than I am.” Then he burst out laughing.

Leonard frowned at his friend, but the rest of the room looked confused. “Very funny,” Leonard replied which only caused Mick to laugh even harder.  
“No, really,” Doctor Snow tried asking again, “what just happened to the two of you?”

“Short version.” Mick sat up slowly and looped an arm around his knee as he started to explain to the room, “We get on a spaceship that is also a time machine. We steal stuff, we shoot stuff and we behave like jackasses – it’s a shitload of fun. Then Lenny grows a conscience and falls for a girl…”

“I did not fall for…” Leonard interrupts.

“Shut up.” Mick stops him with that goofy grin still on his face, “My version of the story. Then, I pull a total dick…” he pauses to clear his throat, “…dumbass move and Lenny kicks my ass off the ship for a timeout. I get kidnapped, brainwashed and forced to work for some assholes for…” his voice trails off and the smile fades. “For?” Mick is clearly lost in unpleasant memories as he tries to get his story back on track.

“Hell, Mick,” Leonard begins his apology, “I’m sor…”

Mick looks at him angrily and points, “Still shutting up.” The smile is gone, but he continues the story, “I get rescued and we all live happily ever after. Until this guy,” Mick stabs a finger in his direction, “decides to screw it up for a beer.”

“That’s not exactly…”

“Still my version,” Mick finishes with a grumble.

“Okaaay,” Snow begins, “but what does that have to do with just happened and where does the ‘stubborn ass’ part factor in?” She asked so politely that Leonard wanted to laugh at how the description ‘stubborn ass’ sounded like a nice thing.

“Apparently,” Leonard answered her, “with everything that is going on tonight, current timeline me has decided not to get on the ship this time.”

“And since we don’t get on the ship,” Mick continued, “this version of us has become temporal fragments. Our timeline has split,” the entire room looked to him in wonder as he launched into a brief technical explanation, “but it hasn't set yet so both possibilities exist. As this new timeline replaces the old one, the two of us you know now will just eventually not exist, that is, if we don’t get tonight us on the ship.” As Mick realized everyone was looking at him in stunned silence, his brows knit together in a frown. “What?” When nobody answered, but continued to stare, the frown turned into a scowl. “I still remember some Chronos shit,” he grumbled.

“What is Chronos?” Iris asked, clearly intrigued by hints of a story. Leonard made eye contact with her and shook his head, attempting to warn her off the subject. She understood the hint and simply nodded at him.

“If you don’t get on the ship, is that really such a bad thing?” Snow asked.

“Remember the last time you met him?” Leonard pointed at Mick and the doctor visibly paled. “He’d go back to being that.” Snow stood, moving away from the arsonist to awkwardly feign putting things away.

“I don’t want to go back to that.” Mick added quickly, then he looked across the room at Snow, “And someone else you know would go back to being a sarcastic jackass.” He paused for effect, then ended with, “Oh, wait. Too late.”

“Cute,” Leonard tossed back at him with a sneer. “Anyone else have something actually useful?”

“So,” Iris finally spoke as a smile bloomed across her entire face, “there’s a girl?”

“Seriously, West?” Leonard replied, “You hear all of that and that’s what you take away from it? Clearly your journalism skills have atrophied since the holidays. Ramon, you got something helpful?”

“Sorry, man, I’m still stuck on the ‘Captain Cold has a girlfriend’ part.”

Leonard affixed an angry scowl on his features and then covered his eyes with his right hand as he slouched further into the chair. He heard Mick begin chuckling, there was a brief amused noise from Snow, Ramon was still furiously typing on a keyboard and West… He peered out from between his fingers and one angry blue eye met soft brown ones. She was still smiling at him. She mimed a pretend notebook and pencil and began writing as she mouthed the word “girlfriend” at him. He snapped his fingers together and his eye shut.

Now he had to leave the scowl and his hand on his face indefinitely because he was pretty sure that for the first time in his life he was blushing.

 

**********

 

Mick Rory chuckled once more while looking at Lenny. He never saw the man so embarrassed before. Not that anyone on the planet other than Lisa and him could tell, but it was obvious. A normal person would be bright red by now, but not Lenny, he just looked equal parts angry and bored. Never did figure out how the guy could plaster two contradicting emotions on his face. He smiled as he started to roll to his feet, but that strange attack still affected him and one knee locked while the other almost gave out. He stumbled a few steps and laughed at his clumsiness.

“I have an idea, kinda,” Mick started to pat at the pockets of his jacket, searching for something.

“I can’t find anything to help us,” Cisco complained as he flopped his hands down on the keyboard in frustration, “I mean, everything about time travel is theoretical. I have no idea what to look for.”

Mick continued to pat his jacket pockets and then cried out, “Ah!” He held up a small black object between his thumb and index finger.

“Is that,” Caitlin squinted at his find, “a comm device of some kind?”

Mick held it out towards Lenny, “At least see where we stand?”

“You know who is most likely to be on comms, right?” Mick simply shrugged in reply. “Fine.” Lenny conceded. “I suppose we do need to know how bad things are.”

“Ponytail,” he tossed the comm device at Cisco, who caught it, “hook us up so the whole class can hear.”

“My name is Cisco.” With that proclamation, the engineer placed the device on the desk and folded his arms across his chest. “And I’m not doing anything until you stop calling me Ponytail.”

Mick strode across the room until he was up against the desk where Cisco sat, then he flattened both hands out as he leaned his weight on them. He was very good at looming. Cisco kept his arms crossed, but now he fidgeted, clearly regretting his decision to make a stand. Mick saw Lenny glancing down, trying not to smile, but the women were uncomfortable. Perhaps he was a little too good at intimidation, he only meant to mess with the kid, not upset everyone. Except he wasn’t quite sure how to back out of the situation he created.

“Maybe we can all agree on first names?” Iris asked reasonably. “Right, Leonard?”

When the man didn’t answer, Caitlin chimed in, “Sounds good, Iris.” Then she took a deep breath and continued, “What do you think, Mick?”

“Fine.” Mick paused and finally ground out, “Cisco.” He was actually relieved, but did his best to seem annoyed. He pushed up off the desk and straightened while the engineer began examining the comm device. The women started gravitating towards Cisco and his computer while the engineer connected the Waverider comms to the sound system in the room. Even Lenny pushed a foot off the floor to wheel over and then continued to twist lazily back and forth in the chair, his back to the group.

“Done.” Cisco announced and then hesitated, “Uh, guys, do we really want to contact a time machine filled with criminals?” He refused to look at Mick, but glanced nervously in Lenny’s direction. “I mean, you guys have been pretty cool so far, but I don’t think we…” He stopped mid-sentence and swallowed hard. “Maybe we should rethink this.”

Lenny smirked and spun his chair to face Cisco, “Don’t worry, not all of them are murderers.” Then he touched his ear to turn on his comm and spoke again, “Waverider, anybody home?”

“Hello?” A cultured, male voice filled the room over the speakers, “Mr. Snart? Thank goodness, we were beginning to worry.”

“Professor Stein?” Caitlin’s voice continued to rise in pitch as she spoke, “What are you doing there?”

“Caitlin Snow?” The professor sounded even more surprised than the doctor. “What on earth…”

“Oh my god!” Caitlin turned and glared furiously at Mick. Clearly he did something horribly wrong, but nothing sprang to mind. He was doing his best to be on good behavior. “You kidnapped Professor Stein!” Then she took a step toward him and punched him in the arm. They looked at each other, equally stunned and then she turned bright red. His eyebrows flew up and he was about to laugh, but he suspected she mistook his expression for anger as the color drained from her face.

“Ow?” Not really sure where to go with it, he rubbed his arm and added, “That’s going to bruise.” It wasn’t, but now Caitlin seemed more confused than afraid.

“I really hate to interrupt,” Lenny lied, “but we need Gideon to take a look at the timeline. We don’t seem to be getting anywhere.”

“There is currently,” Gideon spoke pleasantly, “only an 18% chance that you and Mr. Rory will join the crew of the Waverider.”

“No need to sound so happy about it,” Mick grumbled.

“I don’t think Gideon is capable of having feelings about it one way or the other,” Stein replied over the speakers. “Oh. That’s not what you really meant, sorry, Mr. Rory.”

“That’s okay, Professor,” Mick half laughed, “you’ll get a sense of humor eventually.”

“Yes. Quite.” Stein made a short amused noise, then continued more seriously, “I really don’t think you should have involved Doctor Snow in this.”

“Didn’t really have a choice,” Leonard drawled.

“She’s not the only one caught up in this,” Cisco pointed out.

“Cisco as well?” Stein began to chastise them over the comm system. “Was all of this really necessary, Leonard?”

“Necessary, no.” Leonard rolled his eyes even though he knew the Professor could not see him, “But you know full well that shit happens, Martin.”

“And with us,” Mick added, “shit happens more frequently.”

Stein made another amused snort and suggested, “Raymond and I did review the timeline and there has been one major change. Apparently the Central City Bullion Exchange will be robbed tonight as before, but Mr. Rory gets arrested this time.” Mick exchanged a worried glance with Lenny as the Professor continued. “Does that help?”

“Yeah, Professor,” Lenny answered, “it does. Thanks.”

“Good luck, gentlemen. There will be someone here if you need further help.” Communication with the Waverider snapped off.

“Well, at least it wasn’t Haircut on comms, but why aren’t you at the exchange?” Mick wondered.

“Maybe he just doesn’t get caught,” Iris offered.

“No. Lenny is a lot of things – arrogant, deceitful…”

“Never knew how much you cared,” Lenny interrupted with a smirk.

“…sarcastic,” Mick continued as his point was made by the man in question, “but he wouldn’t leave me if I got caught.”

“So you two stand by each other,” Iris began, “How does that help?”

“Oh no,” Mick corrected, “I would totally leave him holding the bag.” He really hated the way that sounded and what that implied. That he wasn’t a good friend. That he was definitely not a good man. Well, he was neither of those things, but this shit never bothered him before. Now he made a point of looking at the floor, because he didn’t want to see how the others would be looking at him after admitting that.

“But how does that help?” Iris asked a second time, surprising Mick by ignoring his confession.

“It doesn’t help a lot, but it’s a start,” Lenny explained. “At least we know where Mick is, even though I have no idea where I am.” He winced, “That sound as weird as I think it did?”

“This time travel stuff is trippy,” Cisco confirmed.

Then Mick saw the expression on Lenny’s face and knew exactly what it meant. He’d seen it dozens of times over the years. There was a great idea. A solution. He knew that Lenny would eventually figure this whole thing out. There was still time to fix this and his friend knew exactly what to do.

“C’mon, Lenny, I know that look. What’s the plan?”

“Well,” the thief began, “we know you get caught if I’m not there, so I’ll go there.”

“But we don’t know where you are,” Iris pointed out.

“No,” Lenny stood as he began his explanation, “I’ll go.” He tapped himself on the chest twice to emphasize the meaning. “It’s my screw-up. Least I can do is make sure you have a chance to get on the ship, Mick. If we don’t find me, at least I can give you a chance.”

“Road trip!” Iris cried out gleefully.

“I didn’t say you were going,” Leonard frowned.

“That won’t work,” Mick said quietly. So quietly that for once in his life, nobody heard him.

Iris and Lenny continued their genial banter about who was going to be the getaway driver. Then it was amended to a “getting to” driver. Then it got even sillier, which surprised Mick. It was one of those weird tangents that Lenny and Lisa went off on sometimes like two little kids. He always thought it was a Snart thing, but there was Lenny, talking nonsense with someone other than his sister. Their conversation faded to the background as Mick chewed on a more important issue.

This was the one subject he never wanted to talk to Lenny about. The last straw. The thing that made him finally snap. The one thing he never wanted to think about ever again because it meant that he wasn’t good enough. That he really wasn’t supposed to be here.

“That won’t work,” he repeated, this time so loudly that everyone stopped talking and looked at him.

“It’ll be fine,” Lenny corrected him with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Simple job. Get tonight you through it. Drive on the right road. Rip snaps us up…” Lenny dramatically grabbed a handful of air as Mick interrupted.

“Not that part.”

“It’ll be fine,” Lenny waved dismissively a second time. “This is a simple job. I’ll walk tonight you…”

“That won’t work,” he repeated again and saw Lenny frown, annoyed by his attitude. “I’m not supposed to be one of the Legends.”

Lenny stopped his grand planning and looked at him, “You can’t really think that, Mick.”

“Oh, I know it.” Mick began pacing and gesturing wildly as he felt the anger building, “Rip told me as much when those time pirates had us. I’m pretty much a bribe to make sure you joined the team.” He was talking louder now as the anger expanded. “Didn’t you ever wonder why he needed a thug, an arsonist? Well, he didn’t. He needed a world class thief and he knew you wouldn’t join without me. Big help I was. Getting turned into Chronos and almost…”

“Mick…” It wasn’t sympathy in Lenny’s voice, it was that sharp warning tone. He stopped pacing and looked up at his friend who was clearly uneasy. Then he realized the others in the room were also wary and it was directed at him. But they were over that, weren’t they? What did he do to change things?

Looking down, he saw the heat gun in his hand – powered up and safety off.

“Shit!” He immediately snapped the safety on and powered it off. Then he thrust it muzzle down at the Doc who was standing closest to him. She took hold of it awkwardly in surprise as he turned on his heel and hurried out of the room.

“Fuck!” He cursed at the empty hallway as he strode away from the meeting.

He could have hurt someone. Having control was still new to him and old habits really did die hard. He spent so many years doing what he wanted, not worrying about consequences, about who he hurt and now all of it mattered. The only people he vaguely cared about up until now were Lenny and Lisa and half the time he treated them like shit too.

All of this was exactly what Lenny warned him about. He laughed it off several days ago when the thief tried to explain what was going to happen to him. He brushed it off, telling his friend that it would never happen - he was too old, too hardened and too simple a guy to ever change that much.

Lenny just smirked at him. That smug bastard.

Sure enough, everything came crashing down on him in the last few hours. New feelings. New everything. Things he wanted his entire life suddenly seemed empty. He desperately wanted to be more. He continued wandering down the corridor and then stopped to slam his fist into a metal door. The pain felt good. Familiar.

Mick continued on a few minutes more, but then realized the building was huge and he was unfamiliar with the layout. He stopped near some kind of ledge running through a hall and sat, letting his feet dangle. A few minutes to cool off, then time to go back and actually apologize for the first time in his life. Because also for the first time in his life, he wanted to do the right thing.

Just as he decided it was time to head back, he sensed someone behind him. He didn’t need to look to know it was Lenny making sure he wasn’t wrecking the place. He leaned back on his elbows and continued to let his feet swing aimlessly.

“Checking up on me, Lenny? Don’t worry, I didn’t break anything… Or set it on fire…”

“Are you okay?” Came the reply, but not Lenny’s voice.

“Petal?” He whipped his head around to look at her, she was concerned, but not afraid. “I mean, Iris,” he corrected quickly.

“Actually,” she sat down on the ledge next to him, “I kinda like it.”

“Petal it is then.” They sat there in companionable silence for a few moments, both pairs of feet swinging. Finally, he asked, “You draw the short straw?”

“Huh?” Iris thought for a moment, then continued, “No, I was worried about you. I thought Leonard was going to check on you, but he was being…”

“…an ass?” Mick offered.

Iris giggled at that. “Yeah, a little. You know your friendship is a bit…”

“…dysfunctional?” Mick interrupted again and Iris’ smile grew wider.

“A bit. But I think you’re going to be fine. You’ll figure this out. This time travel guy who recruited you though, he sounds like a real…” this time she paused, allowing him to finish her sentence.

“…jerk?” He was proud he kept it clean.

Iris frowned and her face scrunched up in serious thought, suddenly she spat out, “…tool!”

They looked at each other in shock and then started to laugh. Mick let his elbows give way so he was laying with his back on the floor, one arm flung over his eyes and the other across his stomach. They continued laughing for several moments, then he heard her trying to regain her composure, but as soon as he made eye contact, she collapsed in another fit of giggles.

As the laughing finally drew to a close, Mick wiped the moisture from his eyes and spoke, “Thanks, Petal. I don’t think I ever laughed like that in my life and I’m not really sure what we were laughing about.”

Mick got to his feet as she answered, “That’s the best kind of laughing.” He reached down to offer her a hand up. “Leonard has a plan,” she continued as he helped her stand and they began walking back to where they left the others. “I’m going to drive him to the Central City Bullion Exchange…”

“You convinced him of that?”

“Common sense, Mick,” she explained. “If you guys have another one of those episodes while he’s driving, that would be bad.” He nodded to concede her point and let her continue. “Future him and tonight you will do the job and then let that time travel guy take both of you to the meeting. Afterwards, he and I will bring tonight you back here.”

“I’m going with you, you’ll need my help.”

“Actually,” Iris shook her head, “Leonard wants you to stay here.”

“What?” Mick was genuinely distressed, he was worried that he might hurt someone. Tonight him, not now him…this extra him stuff was giving this him a headache. He rubbed a hand over the top of his head to clear things a bit. “You can’t be serious. You’ll need my help.”

“It will be fine,” Iris shook her head again.

“Petal,” Mick grabbed her arm to get her to stop walking. “Petal…” he started again, searching for the right way, the nice way, the best way to explain this to her. Then he realized there was only the blunt way to make his point. “I’m dangerous.” Her eyes went wide for a moment and then she studied him. Not looked at him, but really studied him. Suddenly uncomfortable, Mick released her arm and looked away.

“No you’re not,” she decided and started walking again.

Mick was surprised at her answer, but that wasn’t exactly what he meant. He took a few quick steps in order to catch up with her. “I mean tonight me.” She shrugged and didn’t slow down. “I mean tonight me more than now me.” He tried to sound a little menacing, but she shrugged again, completely unflustered.

“Leonard says we are armed with a “flashy thing” and “forget me pills” – whatever that means, but he seems to think it’s enough.”

“Figures he’d steal that stupid thing,” he sighed. “Just be sure to get away from this mess…from me…if this goes sideways.”

Iris considered it a moment and then smiled at him. Not a smirk like Lenny regularly tossed his way, but an honest and open smile. A look that people, especially women, never gave him. “I know your secret, Mick Rory.”

So many horrible things flew through his head. That he liked fire, not a secret. That he hurt people and liked it, not a secret. That he killed people and didn’t think much of it, she probably knew that too. That he was a thief, a well known fact. That he was covered in burns and scars, he’d be surprised if the Doc hadn’t told her. Most, if not all, of his life was a very loud, very open book. What could she possibly know?

“Oh?” He finally replied, dreading her answer.

“You are a big softie.” She bumped her shoulder into his arm in an attempt to make him stumble, but she simply bounced off him with no effect to his stride. She laughed and he was pretty sure he liked that thought more than he should.

 

**********

 

Leonard Snart felt himself gaining consciousness far sooner than he was supposed to, of that he was sure. Maybe that device worked less efficiently each time you were hit with it or maybe he blinked because he knew it was coming, but they were all supposed to regain consciousness at the same time - just not for several minutes yet. He kept his breathing slow and even so that Rip would not notice the change in him. He was laying on the hard ground of that rooftop. Again. He sensed Rip standing over Mick to his left and then realized he must be deactivating the heat gun.

When all this happened months ago, this part seemed so bizarre. Meeting those do-gooders on a rooftop and being asked to save the world. Stupidest thing anyone ever asked of him, with the exception maybe of Barry asking for his help six months earlier. It wasn’t until later when he really thought about the implications of traveling through time and stealing things that he realized how lucrative things could be. Mostly it was about proving Barry wrong – that he was a thief and a liar and not a good person.

If he was honest with himself, mostly he thought about how some other do-gooders saved his sister and how he could never repay that. Was it possible he bought into his redemption right from the beginning?

Now he needed to concentrate on keeping his breathing even again, as Rip hovered over him to deactivate the cold gun. Then he heard a thin, whistling noise coming from one of Professor Stein’s nostrils. Years of self-control kept him from laughing out loud or showing any reaction on his face, but still, it was damn funny. Of course, the person Martin was tonight would not appreciate a criminal laughing at him, but when he got back to the Waverider he would tell the scientist about it. “Leonard, you mean to say you almost lost by a nose?” or some equally lame joke would be his comment, but they would both laugh at it.

It always surprised him that Professor Stein was one of the first members of the crew to give him a chance. He figured Stein was an older man, set in his ways and always on the straight and narrow. Not much room to be giving a man like him a second chance, but he did and almost from the very beginning. He would have expected it from Palmer, but coming from Stein surprised him. Even stranger was that he liked the Professor almost from the very beginning as well. Although maybe not so unusual. Stein was too young, but maybe part of him wondered what life would have been like with a father like Martin instead of the one he got in Lewis.

Rip finally backed away from them all. The rooftop fell eerily still for a moment.

There was a sound of gravel being displaced and a groan on his left. Pretty sure that was Raymond waking up.

A groan directly to his left, then Mick said as he sat up quickly, “Uhhh, what a headache!”

Leonard’s turn to sit up. He did his best to look surprised and a little annoyed, he turned to his right, “Martin, what in the hell are you doing here?”

“I’m as…” Professor Stein began to answer, but then stopped and blinked at him in confusion.

Sara sat up slowly, “Where are we?”

The others regained consciousness, but he realized he already made two mistakes. The first was not wearing his parka. Not that it was a big deal, but still, it was his thing for the first month or so of being on the ship. The second was a little worse – calling Professor Stein by his first name. He was pretty sure he didn’t know it at this point. He met the man briefly when the Flash brought him to S.T.A.R Labs in order to say goodbye to his sister before bringing him back to Iron Heights after killing Lewis. Overall, he needed to be more careful. Details were usually his thing and he was slipping badly.

Rip Hunter began his sales pitch.

The man was more pompous than he remembered. How did he not pick up on all the lies? They were large and obvious, but that was probably because he knew Rip better now.

Mick was more agitated than he remembered too, although that wasn’t unexpected. The heist did not go smoothly like the first time around either. If it weren’t for the fact that the job needed to be done tonight, he would have put it off for a few days. It was difficult working with Mick when he was like this and there was far too much weird going on tonight for the arsonist to handle. Mick was dangerously close to being out of control.

Rip continued on about Vandal Savage and the hawks insisted they defeated him already. Things are never that easy.

“What the hell does this Randall guy have to do with us?” Mick growled out.

“Vandal,” Rip corrected patronizingly and continued his explanation.

Leonard saw a subtle shift in Mick’s stance and knew he was going to take a swing at Rip. Normally, he’d approve, but he didn’t need to get them thrown off the team before they got on the team. Leonard made a subtle shift of his own and gave Mick a quick elbow to the ribs. Just enough to get his attention and no one else’s.

Great. Now all that anger was directed at him.

“…to travel across time,” Rip moved his arm dramatically in an arc, “to capture Savage before he grows into the monster he will become.”

“You got the wrong guy,” Leonard drawled out as he walked away from the rest of the group, remembering his part in this, but not relishing it the second time around. “Hero ain’t on my resume.”

“Or mine,” Mick added as he trailed along after him.

“I know it’s difficult for you to fathom,” Rip was speaking directly to him, “but where – when – I’m from, the year 2166, you and everyone on this roof aren’t just considered heroes, you’re legends.”

Well played, Rip.

Even the second time around he felt it - the strange pull and a hitch in his chest. When he started walking away that first time, he fully intended on leaving. This was crazy and he wasn’t going to save the world. He was a thief, not a hero. But the way Rip said the word “you”, it made him stop. It wasn’t a collective “you”, he meant Leonard Snart and what he heard was “you don’t have to be like your father.” Just like that, he desperately wanted it to be true. By the time Rip said the word “legends” he was hooked and didn’t even know it.

“Legends?” Ray queried, his interest piqued.

“This is stupid,” Mick growled from behind him, “I’m outta here.” Then he heard heavy boots crunching through the gravel as his friend left.

Mick loved making things difficult.

Now the rest began debating if they wanted to be a legend or just stay home. It didn’t surprise him that Raymond was automatically on board, but he hadn’t remembered the others being so reluctant. Then Rip continued his appeal and showed them the world 150 years into the future.

“If your answer is yes,” Rip handed Stein a small white card, “meet me at this address in 36 hours.” Rip left them standing there in stunned silence.

Raymond recovered first, “So what do you think?”

“I think that’s five minutes of my life I don’t get back,” Leonard sneered, needing to force that once common expression on his face.

“He just showed you the entire world in flames, you can’t turn your back on that,” Stein appealed to him.

“Observe.” Before he turned to walk away, he saw Martin look disappointed in him, Raymond looked like a kicked puppy and Sara glared at him. This was harder than he thought it would be. He hesitated.

“That’s right,” Sara threw at him angrily, “Run along after your friend.” He forgot how much she disliked him in the beginning. They all did.

“Be careful what you wish for,” he said as he turned to follow after Mick. And because he just couldn’t help himself, he threw in, “Sara.”

Leonard was almost to the roof exit when she yelled after him, “Hey! How do you know my name?!”

“He knew mine as well,” Martin said.

Leonard opened the door as he heard Raymond add, “Well, I think we can all agree that the mission will all go a lot better without those two.”

The door clicked closed behind him.

Now he needed to find Mick, which shouldn’t be hard, considering. People were always surprised at how quiet Mick could be when he was focused and on a job. He was decidedly light on his feet for a man his size. Mick was also volatile and when he was in a mood, like he was now, he was anything but quiet.

Leonard stopped at each landing, opened the door and listened for his friend. At the fourth stop, he heard a commotion and entered.

It was difficult to determine if this floor was under construction or being demolished. Temporary strings of lights hung everywhere, but half of them were not lit. Plastic sheets, both opaque and transparent, draped from half destroyed walls and partial scaffolding. Everything was covered in a layer of thick dust.

“You’re an egghead,” Mick yelled at someone, “you explain this shit to me!”

“I truly have no idea other than what we were just told,” came the reply.

Stein.

Leonard raced across the room, ducking under several sheets of plastic and swerving around piles of trash until he was there. Professor Stein was backed up against a tall stack of bricks with his hands raised, Mick had the heat gun aimed at the middle of the scientist’s chest and Jax was sprawled on the ground, breathing, but unconscious.

“What’s the play, Mick?” Leonard asked casually, slightly out of breath.

“Snart.” Mick didn’t turn to acknowledge him, but waved the gun at the Professor as he continued, “You said there was weird shit going on tonight, but I didn’t believe you. You said I had a double. You said…” Mick finally turned and the heat gun was pointed at him. “You been acting strange since the job.”

“Clearly you gentlemen have some issues to resolve,“ Professor Stein slowly lowered his hands and began moving towards Jax. Mick turned to face him, pointing the gun at Stein once more. The scientist stopped moving and put his hands up again.

“You need to start explaining,” Mick gestured at the Professor with his gun.

“C’mon, Mick, let’s go,” Leonard tried reasoning with the arsonist.

“No.” Mick spun around and the heat gun was aimed in his direction again.

“This doesn’t get us anywhere, let’s go.” Leonard watched as Mick considered, hesitated and he almost had him convinced.

Mick turned to face Stein, waving the heat gun erratically at the scientist as he spoke, “I think we should waste them.”

“Mick…”

“If we waste them, this weird shit will go away.”

“Mick!”

Mick spun angrily to face Leonard. There was a blinding flash of white light and the arsonist crumpled to the ground. Leonard flipped the “flashy thing” over in his right hand, caught it and tucked it away in his jacket. He sighed. He didn’t want to do that until they were outside and down all the stairs. Leonard glared at the prone body of his friend. Carrying Mick down three flights of stairs was not on his list of things he ever wanted to do.

Leonard began walking towards Jax when Stein finally recovered from his surprise. “Please don’t hurt Jefferson!” The scientist took a hesitant step towards him, concern overriding his fear.

“Not going to hurt him, Professor.” Leonard squatted and then lightly tapped the back of his hand against the kid’s face several times. “C’mon, Jax,” he drawled, “wakey, wakey.” He tapped the kid’s face a few more times and suddenly the young man spasmed awake with flailing arms and legs.

“Ow,” Jax said as he relaxed all his limbs back to the floor. “Hey, Leonard,” he said in a daze, then started to panic as he realized his mistake. “I mean, Snart.” Then the kid looked anxious, realizing he still didn’t have it right, “I mean, thiefy dude.”

Jax grimaced as he realized how stupid he sounded. Leonard smiled as he stood and decided to give the kid a break, “Rip send you to check on us?” He offered a hand up to the young man.

“You’re not from tonight?” The kid bounced to his feet with an energy that belied being recently unconscious. “Wait! You’re not from tonight!” A huge grin lit up his face and he started tapping at the Professor with his left hand in excitement. “You told me about this, Gray.”

“I?” Stein queried, obviously puzzled.

“Yeah,” Jax answered as he turned to face the scientist, “you told me about...” The kid’s voice trailed off as he looked towards Leonard. “Wait, how did you know I’m not from tonight?”

“Easy,” the thief smirked, “you only recently started calling me Leonard and you’re wearing different clothes.”

“Oh,” Jax replied as he glanced down at his attire.

“Yes, Jefferson,” Stein added, still confused, “how did you change your clothes so fast? I was just about to ask when we were…interrupted.”

“Keep up, Professor,” Leonard drawled as he pointed at Jax, “future,” and then himself, “future.”

“My word…”

“Any reason why we’re involving tonight Stein in all of this?” Leonard asked, “Aren’t there enough things we’re juggling tonight?”

“Well,” the kid glanced away as he rubbed the back of his head, “I need help from this version of Gray.”

“You need…” Leonard trailed off as things clicked into place. “You’re from my future, aren’t you?” Jax made no reply as he chewed on his lip and avoided eye contact. “This night. Really? We come back a third time?”

“I can’t…” Jax started to explain.

“Yeah, yeah,” Leonard waved dismissively, “I know the drill.” He squatted to get a hold under Mick’s arms to lift him. “Why don’t you help me with him.”

“Why do your requests always sound like orders?” Jax groused and Leonard smirked in reply. Once the kid had a hold of Mick’s legs and lifted, he started to complain, “Dude, he is way heavier than he looks.”

“Feel free to let him know that when you get back,” Leonard tossed back at the kid.

Jax looked to Leonard then Mick apprehensively, but did not reply. Once they reached the door to the stairs, he started to complain again, “You should have totally waited until you guys reached the bottom of the stairs before you knocked him unconscious.”

Leonard simply quirked an eyebrow at the kid as they carried the arsonist down the stairs with Professor Stein following after them.

 

**********

 

Martin Stein never imagined that this new chapter of his life would actually be an entire book - in a completely different genre than the rest of his story. After all, he was a physicist and not a young man. Not that he felt particularly old, but he was definitely not young. As it was, he was still adjusting to life as Firestorm. A genuine superhero with superpowers. His entire youth was spent in books and now his time was spent being a man of action. Well, Jefferson handled most of the physical work, but still, he was definitely more active than he ever expected to be at this point in his life.

Now on top of everything else there was the promise of time travel. Extraordinary!

Although that Rip Hunter fellow’s choice in traveling companions did leave something to be desired. He glanced down at the man who threatened him earlier being carried by Jefferson and that Leonard Snart character. Barry Allen gave him an ear full a couple of months ago about Snart. Apparently the criminal was intelligent, ruthless, and unyielding, although for some reason, Barry seemed to almost like him and have high hopes for him.

Martin wasn’t quite as sold on the man and he was definitely not sold on the man’s associate.

They reached the bottom of the stairs and Martin hurried to politely open the door for the two men. Snart exited first while walking backwards, suddenly he frowned and said, “Mick, I told you to stay back at the lab.”

Martin quickly glanced down, relieved that the man who threatened him was still unconscious. Then he looked up. There was a dark SUV parked at the curb with two people perched on the hood eating ice cream cones. In January. How absurd.

The larger of the two hopped off the hood and walked over. Martin stared at him in surprise. Then he glanced down at the unconscious man and then back up again. There were clearly two Mick’s – one walking towards him and one being carried.

“Remarkable,” he said.

“Hey, Professor,” the second Mick said to him in a somewhat friendly tone as he took another bite of the ice cream cone, but Martin simply stared. The conscious version inclined his head towards Martin, “What’s got him spooked?”

“Well,” Snart answered, “you did just try to kill him and the kid.” The conscious Mick scowled at the unconscious one. “Do you mind?” Snart indicated vaguely between the two Mick’s and the upright version tossed his ice cream so it flipped once and splatted on the sidewalk. Then he gave the prone version a swift kick in the ribs and mumbled something as he dragged himself to the SUV.

There was an existential punchline in all of this, but Martin was unsure if he wanted to hear the joke.

“Hi, Professor,” the second person who had been perched on the hood of the car greeted him. Iris West was one of the last people he expected to be with these two…miscreants.

“Hello, Miss West,” he returned. There was a shuffling noise behind him and Jefferson cleared his throat twice.

“Uh…hi, Iris.”

With that simple statement from Jefferson, all of the talk of time travel and who was from the future suddenly became real for Martin. He knew that Jefferson found Miss West attractive, but for once he didn’t feel it (thankfully). Finally, he realized that was what he found odd about his partner – he was receiving no feedback from their psychic link. Well, not from the Jefferson standing in front of him. He felt Jefferson off somewhere far away, perhaps…home? While he could read the facial expressions of the young man standing here, he received no emotions directly.

“Hey, Jax,” she replied with a smile.

“Well, uh,” Jefferson cleared his throat again, “Gray and I need to go and take care of some stuff.”

“Thanks for the hand,” Snart replied. Then Jefferson and Snart exchanged a serious look and a small nod. Even without the psychic link, he saw affection and respect in that brief exchange. Jefferson did not hand those things over to just anyone. He could not read the Snart fellow at all, but he suspected it was mutual.

“Hey, Professor,” the second Mick called out as he straightened out of the back seat of the SUV, “sorry for being…an asshat.”

Martin was so surprised by the apology he had no reply. Jefferson was quick with a scathing, “Mick, you’re always an asshat.”

The criminal strode purposefully towards Jefferson. Martin noticed the man’s right hand balled into a fist. Slight panic. Jefferson was about to get hurt again if he didn’t run. Of course he wasn’t running, his partner was simply standing there not backing down from the potential fight. Ah, the folly of youth. Before Martin could decide on a course of action, what he thought was the beginning of a fist fight turned into a simple fist bump.

“Good one, kid,” Mick chuckled as he headed back for the SUV.

Jefferson simply grinned, then his expression sobered, “Guys?” He waited for both men to focus on him, “You have to fix this. We really need you back on the Waverider.” Martin clearly needed to reassess his opinion of both men if this is how Jefferson felt about them.

“Working on it,” Snart affirmed, “we should…” Martin watched as Snart’s attention was diverted. The man was clearly wearing a headset of some kind and whatever he was hearing caused him to ignore his surroundings. Snart pressed a hand to his ear as his expression turned ominous, “Cisco?” He tapped his ear twice and repeated, “Cisco?” Then he winced as he cursed, “Damn it!”

“What’s wrong?” Mick asked.

“This is why I told you to stay at the lab,” Snart answered curtly, then he sighed, “At least I turned up.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me that?” Mick snapped back angrily.

Snart seemed bewildered as he replied, “I’m not used to that making a difference.” There was an uncomfortable tension between the two criminals as they looked anywhere but at each other.

“Let’s go,” Iris interrupted the two men, ”I’m assuming your little outburst means Caitlin and Cisco need help.” Iris walked over to the SUV and got into the driver’s seat which surprised Martin. The two men followed after her, Snart getting in the front seat and Mick climbing in back.

“Shouldn’t we assist them?” Martin finally asked Jefferson.

“No, Gray,” Jefferson looked more solemn than he’d ever seen the normally jovial young man, “they got this and we have problems of our own.” The two of them watched the SUV drive off. “I hope they got this,” Jefferson added quietly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not completely happy with that last section, but I really wanted to post this update!


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